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Comment by spoonfeeder006 | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, the lingering mental aspect from being robbed is a good point. I personally doubt I would have trauma if someone held a gun to me and asked me for my merchandise, but who knows, I've never actually experienced that irl

Body language would probably be a bigger factor in that than the gun though

But also, robbery is often driven by trauma or desperation itself

Maybe I don't know enough to take an exact stance exactly on the appropriate punishments, but I do feel like the different factors need to be weighed and balanced

I'm also actually not allowed to get involved in political stuff though, so yeah I probably should have kept my mouth shut on this from the outset

But I will say that justice isn't about my or someone else's wants, its about whats fair for everyone involved, including the one who done the robbery

E.g. giving them a chance to demonstrate they can change. If not, then harsher punishments

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> I personally doubt I would have trauma if someone held a gun to me and asked me for my merchandise, but who knows, I've never actually experienced that irl

You should watch a few robberies where an armed robber popped the clerk after getting the money just because he could. Every armed robbery comes with the implicit threat of being shot, obviously, which is what the gun is for. When you talk about what's "fair" for the robber, it used to just be death. E.g. preventing them from reoffending.

Watching a video here or there isn't a good way to assess a threat

You can watch plenty of videos of people getting dismembered during vehicle accidents, but does daily driving traumatize people? No

What are the statistics? At least for me thats what I would want to know

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/the-psychology-behind-...

In store robberies its unlikely to turn violent if the clerk is behind the counter and complies with the robber, according to one source at least

So people in poor neighborhoods who have experienced common robberies would probably know this and basically be used to it

Perhaps there is a difference in perception on this for those who are from affluent or middle class backgrounds as compared to those who grew up in poor communities?

My high school teacher had a friend who would simply and calmly say "No" like it wasn't a big deal whenever people tried to rob him at gun point. That lack of fear and compliance would take away the robber's strength and make them scared and run

Thats not a statistic though, but it does partly explain my perception and feeling over this I guess

The main statistic I would be interested in, though, is not likelihood of a single robbery, but a 5 year or 10 year likelihood of getting harmed, if I was living in a poor neighborhood

> Watching a video here or there isn't a good way to assess a threat

Point is, your risk assessment skills are so incredibly off-base that you need to see what happens when you let armed robbers back on the street. You do not understand what the threat of violence is in the real world.

My view is the most people (not all) are inherently good inside

Thus the vast majority of robbers are suffering from an illness, and not inherently evil

Which means most (not all) are not actually trying to harm people, just satisfy an economic need or a craving

Yeah, a crime deserves a punishment. But you have to factor in what is driving the crime. Is it economic despair? Drug addiction? Or a person's act of free will?

So to deal with robbery and other crimes you have to understand what is the root cause of it, and apply the remedy for that illness

> O CHILDREN OF MEN! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory. > > -Bahá’u’lláh

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