Re: The Violence Problem

David A Musick (davidmusick@juno.com)
Fri, 26 Dec 1997 09:48:39 -0500


Regarding my claims that a well-trained (in personal combat /
self-defense skills) population is a good way to deter violence, Dwayne
commented that if -everyone- is well-trained, the training is of less
value. I don't see why. There would, of course, be wide variations in
different people's skill levels, but it would be difficult to detect how
well-trained someone was just by watching them in ordinary activities.
Right now, most people aren't well-trained, so a street thug who is
alright at fighting knows that he (or she) has a very good chance of
assaulting someone and getting away with it. But if everyone or most
everyone was at least fairly well-trained, assaulting someone would be
very risky. The small woman you thought you could easily rape could have
been training ninjutsu since she was a child. Or the old man you thought
you could hold up and knife-point for his wallet could have been training
all his life. You just never know. It becomes too risky to just try
assaulting people to find out if they're less well-trained than you are.

The other factor is the other well-trained people around them. People
who are well-trained in self-defense aren't going to walk alone in
dangerous places. When bystanders are capable of mangling and killing
you in a matter of seconds, violence simply becomes too risky to engage
in.

When the populace are the police, criminals cannot survive.

David Musick (DavidMusick@juno.com)

- Continual improvement is the highest good.