Poll: An unlocked car is stolen, who is to blame?

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Story

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somonels said:
I bet he's the friend who likes the "Chicken or Egg" paradox.

Whose fault was it the car got stolen? The thief.
Whose fault was it the car got stolen? The thief.
Who is going to get BLAMED? The owner. Because of course someone is going to steal it. It's only natural. He must have not really cared enough about it or secretly wanted it stolen. Probably a scam for money or drama.

Find better friends or make sure you don't drink too much in public or dress provocatively.
Yikes. Sometimes I'm surprised how blunt the Internet can be. But you hit the nail on the head though. I wasn't looking to invalidate his or my position on this to be fair. I think I did surprise him when I said the thief is to blame.
 

totheendofsin

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There are a few factors here that aren't brought up, is it a nicer car that's more likely to be stolen than a crappy car? Did the owner leave it unlocked in an area that often has cars stolen?

either way nothing completely absolves the thief of blame, in fact I'd say there are two separate instances of blame, the owner can be blamed for being careless, and the thief can be blamed for making the decision to steal the car
 

Dreiko_v1legacy

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WeepingAngels said:
Dreiko said:
If theft is the normal state of affairs and the owner is aware of it, the owner. If theft is a bizarre accident which almost never happens, the thief.


The key question is "how likely is it for an unlocked car to be stolen". If, despite knowing the likelihood is very high, you allow your car to be unlocked out of some mistaken sense of arbitrary human morality of "stealing is wrong" then you are an idiot who doesn't realize the limited scope of social contract when in a world that doesn't have mind control.


It's kinda like why letting your kids walk to school by themselves in broad daylight is fine but letting them walk at night in the middle of a red light district would likely net you in jail for child abandonment/endangerment. The same laws apply in both stretches of road but it's not quiiiite that simple.
It's like when we blame parents for letting their daughters go to college knowing the high college rape numbers...oh wait

Unless the daughter is some kind of exception, she'd be an adult by the time she is in college so it'd be her choice, not the parent's. Not blaming them when their daughter is an adult who makes her own choices is obviously the normal reaction.
 

Story

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totheendofsin said:
There are a few factors here that aren't brought up, is it a nicer car that's more likely to be stolen than a crappy car? Did the owner leave it unlocked in an area that often has cars stolen?
It was made vague on purpose. Possibly my friend wanted to debate wether or not people would be willing to take in opportunity to better themselves even at the expense of others. Kinda falls apart when you consider factors like yours and the very fact that stealing is a crime or at least a more serious crime than negligence
 

Saltyk

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Sep 12, 2010
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I have to say that both are at fault. Now, I that doesn't mean the owner of the car (or whoever failed to lock the car) is criminally responsible. However, s/he is careless and the car likely wouldn't have been stolen if s/he had taken that very minor precaution. The thief is clearly criminally responsible and should be prosecuted.

I understand why many would say that the owner is not at fault, but that doesn't mean that we should ignore that they could have potentially prevented the crime, and then tell others how they can prevent themselves from being a victim of a similar crime. If you stand under a ladder and something falls on your head, you made a mistake that allowed that to happen. So it's only natural to warn others to avoid that and prevent the same thing from happening to them.
 

WeepingAngels

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Dreiko said:
WeepingAngels said:
Dreiko said:
If theft is the normal state of affairs and the owner is aware of it, the owner. If theft is a bizarre accident which almost never happens, the thief.


The key question is "how likely is it for an unlocked car to be stolen". If, despite knowing the likelihood is very high, you allow your car to be unlocked out of some mistaken sense of arbitrary human morality of "stealing is wrong" then you are an idiot who doesn't realize the limited scope of social contract when in a world that doesn't have mind control.


It's kinda like why letting your kids walk to school by themselves in broad daylight is fine but letting them walk at night in the middle of a red light district would likely net you in jail for child abandonment/endangerment. The same laws apply in both stretches of road but it's not quiiiite that simple.
It's like when we blame parents for letting their daughters go to college knowing the high college rape numbers...oh wait

Unless the daughter is some kind of exception, she'd be an adult by the time she is in college so it'd be her choice, not the parent's. Not blaming them when their daughter is an adult who makes her own choices is obviously the normal reaction.
We don't blame the daughter either. Do you?
 

zelda2fanboy

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Dirty Hipsters said:
Sure, someone might have a reason to break into or steal your car specifically, and if that happens you really can't prevent it, but most criminals don't specifically target a person. Most criminals are the kind of people who just go down a row of cars and try all the drivers' side doors until they find one that's unlocked. Very minor preventative measures can and do deter criminals if those criminals are lazy.
That holds true in a city, but if you live in a rural or even medium sized town, it's not as true. Car thefts out in the country probably consist of "hey, there's a car. I need one of those." And even then, that's pretty rare, seeing as how out in the open everything is, and given how many people have guns.
 

Dreiko_v1legacy

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WeepingAngels said:
Dreiko said:
WeepingAngels said:
Dreiko said:
If theft is the normal state of affairs and the owner is aware of it, the owner. If theft is a bizarre accident which almost never happens, the thief.


The key question is "how likely is it for an unlocked car to be stolen". If, despite knowing the likelihood is very high, you allow your car to be unlocked out of some mistaken sense of arbitrary human morality of "stealing is wrong" then you are an idiot who doesn't realize the limited scope of social contract when in a world that doesn't have mind control.


It's kinda like why letting your kids walk to school by themselves in broad daylight is fine but letting them walk at night in the middle of a red light district would likely net you in jail for child abandonment/endangerment. The same laws apply in both stretches of road but it's not quiiiite that simple.
It's like when we blame parents for letting their daughters go to college knowing the high college rape numbers...oh wait

Unless the daughter is some kind of exception, she'd be an adult by the time she is in college so it'd be her choice, not the parent's. Not blaming them when their daughter is an adult who makes her own choices is obviously the normal reaction.
We don't blame the daughter either. Do you?
No, since merely going to college isn't the same as being raped and if a woman knows the statistics and chooses to go then it is logical to assume she is ready to protect herself more so than someone who might be ignorant.

I in general wouldn't blame people for merely taking some risk in their life since almost nothing is safe and you can't spend your life inside a tank just to be safe. The issue is how big of a risk it is you're taking. Merely going to college isn't particularly risky. Doing things like college parties and drinking alcohol and stuff is where most of the rapes occur and you can go to college and do none of that stuff just fine.
 

McElroy

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Dreiko said:
Doing things like college parties and drinking alcohol and stuff is where most of the rapes occur and you can go to college and do none of that stuff just fine.
How does the rest of the world manage without "I will be raped in college if I act like a normal person" being an option one should consider? Like, instead of a rare anomaly? Rhetorical question.
 

WeepingAngels

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Dreiko said:
WeepingAngels said:
Dreiko said:
WeepingAngels said:
Dreiko said:
If theft is the normal state of affairs and the owner is aware of it, the owner. If theft is a bizarre accident which almost never happens, the thief.


The key question is "how likely is it for an unlocked car to be stolen". If, despite knowing the likelihood is very high, you allow your car to be unlocked out of some mistaken sense of arbitrary human morality of "stealing is wrong" then you are an idiot who doesn't realize the limited scope of social contract when in a world that doesn't have mind control.


It's kinda like why letting your kids walk to school by themselves in broad daylight is fine but letting them walk at night in the middle of a red light district would likely net you in jail for child abandonment/endangerment. The same laws apply in both stretches of road but it's not quiiiite that simple.
It's like when we blame parents for letting their daughters go to college knowing the high college rape numbers...oh wait

Unless the daughter is some kind of exception, she'd be an adult by the time she is in college so it'd be her choice, not the parent's. Not blaming them when their daughter is an adult who makes her own choices is obviously the normal reaction.
We don't blame the daughter either. Do you?
No, since merely going to college isn't the same as being raped and if a woman knows the statistics and chooses to go then it is logical to assume she is ready to protect herself more so than someone who might be ignorant.

I in general wouldn't blame people for merely taking some risk in their life since almost nothing is safe and you can't spend your life inside a tank just to be safe. The issue is how big of a risk it is you're taking. Merely going to college isn't particularly risky. Doing things like college parties and drinking alcohol and stuff is where most of the rapes occur and you can go to college and do none of that stuff just fine.
Ok, so you only victim blame if the girl willingly goes to a party?
 

MeatMachine

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May 31, 2011
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Story said:
A person purposely leaves his car unlocked and it gets stolen, who is to blame?
One person is naive and feels very secure in his environment.
The other person is an opportunistic, criminal predator.

The victim was a poor judge of circumstance.
The perpetrator was willfully neglecting property rights.

The blame obviously goes to the criminal, not the victim; the victim made poor decisions, but he did not choose to have his car stolen. Call him an idiot if you want, but he is not culpable for the criminal behavior of others.
 

kenu12345

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Aug 3, 2011
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An unguarded person is murdered. Who's to blame.
Least that is bout the same argument in my own opinion. It's obviously the one doing the crime
 

Smithnikov_v1legacy

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Story said:
I said it was the person who stole it and he said it was the person who did not lock the car.
You should ask your friend then why the owner was not charged with grand theft auto? I'm sure he can come up with a good reason.

I ask the same of all who blame the owner; what should the minimal amount of blame be before we charge the target? Point system, perhaps?
 

Smithnikov_v1legacy

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Sonmi said:
Also, both are to blame. The thief for being a thief, and the car owner for being careless. Obviously you shouldn't steal cars, but it's also your responsibility to look out for your stuff. Don't leave your doors unlocked, don't leave your wallet alone, don't leave your young children unsupervised. The victim is still a victim, granted, but it doesn't absolve him of being irresponsible.

If they are at fault for the crime, what should be the charge against them? Sentence if found guilty?
 

Dirty Hipsters

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Smithnikov said:
veloper said:
The thief is still a criminal, but the owner is not blameless. I see two separate misdeeds.
What should the owner be charged with and what sentence should he/she receive?
You're conflating responsibility and criminal liability. These are 2 different things.
 

Smithnikov_v1legacy

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Major_Tom said:
If I shoot you and you die, is it your fault because you didn't wear a ballistic vest?
According to some, apparently so.
MrFalconfly said:
K12 said:
Making a crime easier to commit doesn't change who is to blame for the crime being committed.


I think what people consistently do when considering blame is to wrongly conflate it with cause and then assign blame based on counterfactual statements.

In other words, stating that "if you hadn't left your car unlocked, it would not have been stolen" might be true but that doesn't entail that "you are to blame for your car being stolen".
This is why I answered "Partly at fault, silly goose".

I mean he is partly at fault, but it's the very small part which earns him a bit of harmless ridicule (and the grievance of having his car stolen), while the criminal blame should all fall on the thief (and I hope just for karmas sake that he gets a lawyer that shouts "STOP BREAKING THE LAW ASSHOLE").
Why should all the criminal blame be on the thief if he's only partially at fault by your own admission?
 

Smithnikov_v1legacy

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Dirty Hipsters said:
Smithnikov said:
veloper said:
The thief is still a criminal, but the owner is not blameless. I see two separate misdeeds.
What should the owner be charged with and what sentence should he/she receive?
You're conflating responsibility and criminal liability. These are 2 different things.
What do you think criminal liability is based on?
 

Dirty Hipsters

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Major_Tom said:
If I shoot you and you die, is it your fault because you didn't wear a ballistic vest?
Real scenario:

9 year old girl goes with her parents to a shooting range. Range instructor gives the child a fully automatic submachine gun and lets her shoot it. The child can't control the recoil and shoots the range instructor in the head. Range instructor dies.

Who is at fault? The child who shot the range instructor in the head? According to you she is, since she did the shooting.

No, it's the range instructor's fault for giving the child a gun that the child cannot reasonably be expected to control.

 

WeepingAngels

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kenu12345 said:
An unguarded person is murdered. Who's to blame.
Least that is bout the same argument in my own opinion. It's obviously the one doing the crime
For some here, they would say the murdered person was not wearing enough armor and was asking for it.