# When, If Ever, is it Appropriate to Blame the Victim? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 7, 2024, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984 "2024-04-07T22:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/201 "2024-04-16T20:52:27Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > do a dimple tax return I’m sorry Miss Temple, you owe quite a bit this year, I hope you saved those residuals. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/202 "2024-04-16T23:33:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > _Practical economics,_ where the students would learn to balance a checkbook Would they also learn to program a VCR, use a typewriter, and dial a rotary phone? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/203 "2024-04-16T23:56:30Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I’m sorry Miss Temple, you owe quite a bit this year, I hope you saved those residuals. snert. I did think, wait, they’re taxing facial features now? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/204 "2024-04-17T00:33:43Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I’m sorry Miss Temple, you owe quite a bit this year, I hope you saved those residuals. 😀 😆 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/205 "2024-04-17T02:47:15Z")
Actually, when you owe a lot that causes a dent in your checking account. A mere dimple makes me think you need to send them around $2.47. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/206 "2024-04-17T07:37:25Z")
Shirley Temple was a victim. Of something. I’m sure. I still blame her for those god awful movie songs. Girl why you gotta be so cute!! ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/207 "2024-05-01T21:17:06Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > What brought this on was reading about the situation with Truth Social and that some investors are likely to take a bath. I don’t feel sorry for them. Anyone who got into bed with Truth Social should have known better. Is it wrong for me to assign them some blame? Is it ever right to blame the victim, even a little? Investors aren’t victims. False analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/208 "2024-05-01T21:19:31Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Investors aren’t victims. False analogy. One of the great things about the SDMB is that I can always count on a pedant to come along in an attempt to show us how clever they are. The word victim has multiple meanings and could include someone who was duped or tricked even if no crime occurred. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/209 "2024-05-01T21:35:16Z")
No one has asserted that the Truth Social investment was fraud or a result of trickery or dupery. Let’s stick to the context we’re given. …or is that not clever enough for you. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/210 "2024-05-01T21:59:00Z")
54?!? I could see a 24-year-old, but a 54YO who’s still doing this has deeper problems. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/211 "2024-05-01T22:02:48Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Investors aren’t victims. False analogy. Right- they gambled and lost. If you bet $100 on the roulette wheel and lost are you a victim? > [@Odesio](#): > > The word victim has multiple meanings and could include someone who was duped or tricked even if no crime occurred. All investments come with a risk, and no one investing in that company was conned. They gambled and lost. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/212 "2024-05-01T22:28:38Z")
I think anyone saying there is zero skullduggery in the arrangement of DWAC, TS, DJT, _and_ there have been and never will be attempts at market manipulation by illegal means is being unrealistic. Have there been convictions? No, and there probably won’t be. But there’s a big difference between betting on a roulette wheel in Las Vegas and betting on a roulette wheel in a back-alley bar in a raggedy 3rd World country. IMO investing in some pharma or IT startup this year is the former: low likelihood of high payoff but the odds are honest. Investing in DJT/TS is the latter. Somebody somewhere has a secret button that makes things happen. You might get lucki(er) than straight chance suggests when they push it … or you might lose your (suddenly rigged) bet. It’s the (IMO highly probable bordering on certainty) existence of the button that makes losing TS investors into victims, while losing investors in [whatever startup] are simply unlucky investors who knowingly took a high risk that went sour. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2024, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/213 "2024-05-02T03:59:01Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s the (IMO highly probable bordering on certainty) existence of the button that makes losing TS investors into victims Truth Social is a publicly traded company. While there certainly could be some shenanigans, DJT is not smart enough to hide such from the SEC. It’s not that he wouldnt want to , he is just not that smart. Mind you even Publicly traded stock can be messed with by clever investors. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/214 "2024-05-02T16:13:48Z")
**Moderating** : This is clearly attacking the poster and not the post. > [@Odesio](#): > > One of the great things about the SDMB is that I can always count on a pedant to come along in an attempt to show us how clever they are. Keep it from becoming personal please. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984/215 "2024-05-08T00:52:18Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Truth Social is a publicly traded company. While there certainly could be some shenanigans, DJT is not smart enough to hide such from the SEC. It’s not that he wouldnt want to , he is just not that smart. Trump isn’t running DJT. The SEC isn’t omnipotent. I say shenanigans are confirmed (the SPAC tangled with the SEC), but certainly not enough to absolve DJT investors of responsibility. But since this is a meme stock, and meme stocks are not illegal, I think that while DJT insiders have long meetings with their lawyers ahead of them they will mostly get away with this fraud, colloquially speaking. Are DJT investors victims? It varies by investor, but I opine none are innocent, most are volunteers, many should know better. Then again I don’t blame them as it’s not my problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-ever-is-it-appropriate-to-blame-the-victim/999984.md?page=10)