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Comment by ajdude | Hacker News Reader

Recently the county police representative at our local civic association was giving a talk: He was trying to drill down two things to pass to our neighborhood:

1) Don't answer the phone

2) Don't answer your door

Simply because of the amount of scammers that are out there.

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I understand the policeman’s motivations, but the idea that the answer to abusive scammers is that we should reduce our level of trust in society generally is severely damaging.

This is why the suburbs are the way they are now. It’s really sad! So many people living in safe neighborhoods, convinced that untold danger lurks outside and that they have to turn their homes into 24/7-surveillance fortresses and never answer the door or something unspeakable will happen.

Ratios.

When you're in a suburb, a stranger directly outside your house for any amount of time is far less likely to be a friendly just going about their day,

like it would be in a small town or in a city.

Learned reactions. Ugly overreactions, often. But, learned.

They broke into my flat once and tried several times.

I don't answer the phone or the door unless I know someone is coming or I'm expecting a parcel. And I have a huge 6 D cell flashlight by my bed (that I will not hesitate to use as a weapon)

Granted I don't live in a suburb but in an inner city in Europe.

Or perhaps the reality is that society is no longer high-trust, and those who still believe otherwise are now easy marks.

My 83 year old father, who needs a walker, who doesn't have internet, who won't install apps on his phone, and who won't allow us to hire him palliative care to visit him in his house, has heard this message loud and clear.

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