re: If you choose to expose yourself to risk, don't you deserve the consequence?

quote:

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So much in politics and current political thought is based on the idea of "enforcing Karma." It seems that there is a need in certain risk averse people to see people who take risks suffer the bad consequences of taking the risk. They just never to see themselves suffer any such consequences.

After all, if you choose to drive your family to Florida instead of flying, don't you "deserve" to get in a wreck, lose them all, survive and suffer a spinal injury, remaining a quadraplegic for the remainder of your life?

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Well put. Similarly, do you deserve to die if you join the military?

The bottom line is that people should be sympathetic within reason - there is no black and white answer. You cannot equate having all your investments in penny stocks to walking down the sidewalk in a bad part of town. In one situation you are taking on a risk/reward decision that should compensate you accordingly over the long run, but you can get burned as well. That is an acceptable trade off. In the other, there are no acceptable outcomes that end with murder, assault, or being mugged. No one who is innocently walking down an American street deserves that, ever.

If you heard the story about the Tulane student and thought "play stupid games, win stupid prizes", then you should probably see a psychologist.