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You would be just as vulnerable, except without the protection of Mutually Assured Destruction — just whomever is stronger wins if it goes sideways.

smcl 4y ago
Yeah, but I don’t want to be in a situation where “mutually assured destruction” is even a thing. I live in a country where I could get a license and get a gun, I’ve never felt the need to as it’s continually safer year after year. If I meet someone here who feels the need to arm themselves for safety in public, I am assuming that person is a little unhinged and that getting involved with them has the potential for trouble. This may be locale-specific though, it could be a totally normal thing to walk around with a gun elsewhere.
- noduerme 4y ago
  We all live in a Hobbesian state of nature. Most people are vaguely aware of this but only really get it if they find themselves in a terrible moment when they realize that no one else and no system is coming to save them.
- seanw444 4y ago
  Where I live, I wouldn't be surprised if I walked past a handful of people with a gun in their waistband at the grocery store. Or a couple at the gas station. You don't even need a permit to do so here. And I have yet to end up in the middle of a shootout. Probably because the risk is too high for criminals as the barrier to entry for defending yourself is essentially zero, except for the price of a gun and ammo. The nice thing about that is it has a "herd immunity" effect. If many people carry around you, but the criminals don't know which person that is, they're likely to refrain from picking on anybody directly. You don't even have to carry yourself to benefit from it. The only crime that happens often in this city, despite that, is parked & vacant cars getting smashed into and robbed. Because it only happens when nobody's looking.
  - smcl 4y ago
    Yeah, I think it’s location-specific, maybe where you are wearing a gun at (say) the local shop is a totally normal thing, but here it would be really fucking weird and possibly even a cause to be worried
- rationalist 4y ago
  I don't want to be in that kind of situation either. I can't comment any further without going way off-topic from the article about LocalBitcoins.
  - smcl 4y ago
    If you wanna go off-piste it’s totally fine! This is an interesting topic, in my opinion, and it’s not like there’s any bad blood or conflict. Just people in different places with different norms and experiences.

smcl 4y ago

Yeah, but I don’t want to be in a situation where “mutually assured destruction” is even a thing. I live in a country where I could get a license and get a gun, I’ve never felt the need to as it’s continually safer year after year. If I meet someone here who feels the need to arm themselves for safety in public, I am assuming that person is a little unhinged and that getting involved with them has the potential for trouble. This may be locale-specific though, it could be a totally normal thing to walk around with a gun elsewhere.

noduerme 4y ago
We all live in a Hobbesian state of nature. Most people are vaguely aware of this but only really get it if they find themselves in a terrible moment when they realize that no one else and no system is coming to save them.
seanw444 4y ago
Where I live, I wouldn't be surprised if I walked past a handful of people with a gun in their waistband at the grocery store. Or a couple at the gas station. You don't even need a permit to do so here. And I have yet to end up in the middle of a shootout. Probably because the risk is too high for criminals as the barrier to entry for defending yourself is essentially zero, except for the price of a gun and ammo. The nice thing about that is it has a "herd immunity" effect. If many people carry around you, but the criminals don't know which person that is, they're likely to refrain from picking on anybody directly. You don't even have to carry yourself to benefit from it. The only crime that happens often in this city, despite that, is parked & vacant cars getting smashed into and robbed. Because it only happens when nobody's looking.
- smcl 4y ago
  Yeah, I think it’s location-specific, maybe where you are wearing a gun at (say) the local shop is a totally normal thing, but here it would be really fucking weird and possibly even a cause to be worried
rationalist 4y ago
I don't want to be in that kind of situation either. I can't comment any further without going way off-topic from the article about LocalBitcoins.
- smcl 4y ago
  If you wanna go off-piste it’s totally fine! This is an interesting topic, in my opinion, and it’s not like there’s any bad blood or conflict. Just people in different places with different norms and experiences.