# How can racial (and gender) profiling be avoided? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 24, 2001, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159 "2001-04-24T17:08:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159/61 "2001-05-02T13:51:08Z")
To distill this: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Procacious \* I do not blame anyone in Hiroshima for choosing to live in the country during the time of war instead of moving like I mentioned that they could have done. However, I do expect them to take responsibility for their decision to stay. I would have made the same choice. It was the most logical decision. The odds were in their favor. But life has its dangers and it your responsibility and yours alone to see them coming and decide whether the likelihood of their occurring is worth preparing for. Like I said before, this concept of responsilibity is devoid of reason. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2001, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159/62 "2001-05-02T18:52:12Z")
Am I the only one who wonders if **Procacious** actually drives (or flies, or goes into federal buildings, or whatever)? Or does s/he spend all day huddled at home, windowshades drawn (to avoid risk of sun exposure and cancer), typing away at the keyboard while wearing rubber gloves (to avoid the risk of electrical shock) and eating homegrown fruits (to avoid the risk of food poisoning and preservatives contamination)? I mean, we’re either talking about the World’s Ultimate Luddite or someone with _impossibly_ high expectations… ---
**Author:** ![Procacious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Procacious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procacious)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2001, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159/63 "2001-05-03T05:42:39Z")
> [@](#): > > ## quote: > > ## Originally posted by Procacious I do not blame anyone in Hiroshima for choosing to live in the country during the time of war instead of moving like I mentioned that they could have done. However, I do expect them to take responsibility for their decision to stay. I would have made the same choice. It was the most logical decision. The odds were in their favor. But life has its dangers and it is your responsibility and yours alone to see them coming and decide whether the likelihood of their occurring is worth preparing for. > > Like I said before, this concept of responsilibity[sic] is devoid of reason. My philosophy was created due to my disgust with America’s current culture that never takes responsibility for anything. Every time something bad happens, everyone looks for someone else to blame and almost no one ever accepts that they are at least partially responsible. I would venture to guess that the average person accepts the blame for less than 10% of the bad things that occur to him/her. If the average person is only responsible 10% of the time, then where are all the people that are causing all the trouble? The trouble makers are also claiming that they are responsible only 10% of the time. Every time a bad thing happens, people find ways to blame each other. All parties involved are correct, because all parties involved are at fault. Some are more responsible than others, but only small children are innocent. When a drunk driver hits a pedestrian, the driver may comment, “Well, what was he doing in the street?” The pedestrian was crossing at the crosswalk, but he still should have been looking for cars that may have been approaching. The drunk driver is the most responsible for hitting the pedestrian, but if the pedestrian had be paying attention, he/she could have moved out of the way before the car hit him/her, and thus, the pedestrian is also responsible. Obviously there are not many (if any) reasonable courses of action in some situations (such as the bombings), but it still would have been possible to avoid them if someone had been paranoid (i.e. cautious beyond what the average person considers reasonable). In the cases of flying or living/working in a densely populated area, the most common (and most reasonable) course of action is not to avoid the catastrophe, but to hope it does not occur. But when you hope that a bombing never occurs, you are acknowledging the possibility that it may occur, yet not taking any precautions (because the probability is so small). Your responsibility comes from accepting the odds and taking the gamble rather than taking the safer (and far less convenient) course of action. You may not agree with my reasoning for feeling everyone is responsible, but my concept is not devoid of it. > [@](#): > > Am I the only one who wonders if Procacious actually drives (or flies, or goes into federal buildings, or whatever)? Or does s/he spend all day huddled at home, windowshades drawn (to avoid risk of sun exposure and cancer), typing away at the keyboard while wearing rubber gloves (to avoid the risk of electrical shock) and eating homegrown fruits (to avoid the risk of food poisoning and preservatives contamination)? If you met me on the streets, you would never know I was the same person typing this (unless you started a conversation about personal responsibility with me). Before I make any decision for the first time, I consider its consequences. I realize that every time I expose myself to solar radiation, I may get skin cancer. Every time I drive or fly, I may be killed. And so on. To be completely cautious is to live an unpleasant life. However, if I get skin cancer from solar radiation, it will not be the fault of all those CFC manufactures that released CFC’s all those years ago, it will be my responsibility for going outside without sunscreen. My only point is that if people always looked to themselves first when determining who is at fault for a given situation, they would always discover that they are partially to blame. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2001, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159/64 "2001-05-03T09:25:56Z")
Uhhuh Proccy, uhuh. Whatever you say. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2001, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159/65 "2001-05-03T17:27:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Procacious \* > **However, if I get skin cancer from solar radiation, it will not be the fault of all those CFC manufactures that released CFC’s all those years ago, it will be my responsibility for going outside without sunscreen.** So by that logic, if I put, say, arsenic and cyanide in your drinking water, then you drink it and die, I’m absolved of any guilt because it’s _your_ fault for drinking it in the first place? WOO-HOO! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Procacious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Procacious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procacious)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159/66 "2001-05-04T01:14:59Z")
> [@](#): > > ## quote: > > ## Originally posted by Procacious However, if I get skin cancer from solar radiation, it will not be the fault of all those CFC manufactures that released CFC’s all those years ago, it will be my responsibility for going outside without sunscreen. > > So by that logic, if I put, say, arsenic and cyanide in your drinking water, then you drink it and die, I’m absolved of any guilt because it’s your fault for drinking it in the first place? If you look first to yourself when assigning responsibility for an event that you are involved in, you will always find that you did something (or didn’t do something) that could have changed the outcome. Likewise, you will always find someone else to blame as well. Situations rarely, if ever, occur where only one person is entirely to blame. In the above case, you are responsible for poisoning the water and I am responsible for drinking it without first testing it. I have decided that the likelihood of my drinking water being poisoned is small enough that I will neglect to perform arsenic and cyanide tests. I take responsibility for this decision and do not perform the tests at my own risk (I am not trying to say that victims are solely responsible, only partially responsible). As for the CFC manufacturers, we already know that the CFC’s that were released have caused ozone depletion. It is like a mine field, if someone makes a mine field and we all know that a mine field is there, the majority of the responsibility for stepping on the mine is carried by the individual that does the stepping, not the creator of the mine field. We cannot undo what has been done, only live with it. Though the CFC manufacturers are partially responsible for ozone depletion (and thus may be partially responsible for some cases of skin cancer), in my case I will not blame them at all. I hold myself to a higher standard than I hold others and choose to take even more responsibility for those things that I am involved in than I would expect others to take in the exact same situation. ---
**Author:** ![tourbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@tourbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tourbot)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159/67 "2001-05-04T02:18:29Z")
Hey Procacious, I like the cape, but don’t you think wearing the underwear outside your pants is a bit much? 😉 Seriously, have you ever considered that it might be simpler to consider people to be responsible for those things which they can be reasonably expected to have knowledge of and control over? And to admit there are things which don’t fall into that category? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159/68 "2001-05-04T09:22:38Z")
I don’t think reasonable enters into his world view. Having discovered one unsupportable, unreasonable analysis (we’re responsible for nothing) he’s decided to go for its photo-negative. Or maybe it’s just a plot to destroy the meaning of “responsible.” ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159/69 "2001-05-04T14:12:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Collounsbury \* > Or maybe it’s just a plot to destroy the meaning of “responsible.” There you go again, **Col** , blaming unnamed “others” for your own problems. Haven’t you been paying attention to the words of **Procacious**? I would consider him my Messiah, if that didn’t imply I was relying on him too much. ::flees:: ---
**Author:** ![Procacious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Procacious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procacious)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159/70 "2001-05-04T20:16:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Seriously, have you ever considered that it might be simpler to consider people to be responsible for those things which they can be reasonably expected to have knowledge of and control over? And to admit there are things which don’t fall into that category? Perhaps if I didn’t use the word “responsibility,” Collounsbury would be happier. But I do not understand how people can go through life expecting everything to go perfectly. Was the Oklahoma City bombing really that surprising? Sure, no one expected it to be that particular building on that particular day at that particular time, but surely you expected some catastrophe to occur sometime during that time period that would kill a large number of Americans. Between fires, plane crashes, bombings, earthquakes, etc., there is never a particularly long period of time that goes by without a large number of people being killed. Yet there are few people that seem to have gotten used to it yet. It is part of life. It is predictable. And it really is not that big of a deal. We all know that we may be in the next group of people that are killed. When such a tragedy occurs, just say, “At least it wasn’t anyone I knew” instead of saying, “Oh my God, the humanity. It is so horrible. How will we ever go on? etc.” > [@](#): > > There you go again, Col, blaming unnamed “others” for your own problems. Haven’t you been paying attention to the words of Procacious? I would consider him my Messiah, if that didn’t imply I was relying on him too much. > > ::flees:: Hehe, no need to flee. All of my followers shall be protected as best as I can using my incredible powers of foresight. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-racial-and-gender-profiling-be-avoided/63159.md?page=3)