The Criminal Commits the Crime.

To continue the rant I had on Monday, I would like to talk about "victim blaming" and what I believe to be true on the matter.

For those who do not know, victim blaming is when a victim of a crime is blamed for bringing the crime upon themselves. Often this manifests as a rape victim being blamed because of the way she dresses, or going out to clubs and rubbing against people.

In my, personal policy, I usually wait until my partner says "rip off my clothes and make the sex to me please" before I rip off their clothes and make the sex to them. It is... amazingly nonromantic, but I would rather let the mood die a little than push someone beyond what they want to do. I do have a creepy demeanor, and err heavily on the side of caution, for I have been blamed for stalking people home from school who actually just live near me.

Anyway, back to victim blaming. Does a rape victim increase their chances of getting raped by going out dressed like a total slut? Probably not, rapists often rape because they want to control women, and if a woman just looks like she is going to give it up then there is nothing to control. As a matter of fact I think if you dress conservatively a control-rapists is more likely to select you. In the case of one who might roofie a drink, yes, dressing in skirts and not wearing underwear might increase the chances of you being selected, if only because in that specific instance the criminals are most likely selecting on sexual appeal, and ease with which they can bypass clothing. And third, going out may also increase your chances of getting raped, if only compared to staying in and never meeting anyone. Most important thing, travel in groups.

The final part of this comes down to who is at fault. And let me make my point clear, If the most beautiful girl in the world walks from club to club totally nude and at each club dances and rubs up against everyone while dancing, does that mean she was asking for it? Does that pardon the rapist? No, never in any instance is a lack of consent justified. Never in any instance is the victim to blame, the criminal commits the crime.

If I put a bag of one million dollars out on my lawn and it gets stolen, was I asking for it? No, not at all. Was I maybe not the smartest with my money? Yes. Just remember, the criminal commits the crime.

We are the problem?

I was reading an article on the ultra top secret Texas ranger recon team that they have patrolling their border now... And I got to this point:

...

Pressed for an example of a Ranger Recon success, McCraw grabbed the most recent mission report and read that in one day, a team arrested 22 people and seized 1,739 pounds of marijuana. He offered no other details.

...

What, Marijuana? Cannabis!? The most docile drug apart from horse tranquilizers! THAT is what is causing so much violence? This violence is seriously being caused by the easiest plant to grow in the world? Not heroin, not cocaine, not some new exotic cat urine extract...

Weed.

I am not into drugs of any type, I want to make that clear. But if people are risking their lives to deliver this to the United States market... has not the market spoken? That "free market" that everyone loves so dearly?

If we just made marihuana [sic] legal the supply would boom (cannabis is one of the fastest growing biomasses on the planet), price would drop, and the Mexican drug lords would wither and die very quickly.

I am sure it is more complicated than that, but from where I see it, we are the problem.

Texas Recon Rangers