I am realizing that mixing discussions of "victimization" and "precautionary measures"

[howard112211]

rarely leads to good results. I think the bottom line is, both are important topics, but are best discussed seperately.

What I mean by "victimization" is basically the discussion of "who is the victim"/"who is at fault"/"who should be punished" etc.

Anyone can be victim of a crime and people deserve the right to not be blamed for being a victim. No criminal should ever walk free just
because his victim might have been an "easy target".

That said, "precautionary measures" are also a relevant topic. Responsible human beinsg should at some point ask themselves
the question what type of preparations they are undergoing as to make being a victim less likely. This topic is intertwined with the question of
leadership. In theory, what distinguishes a "leader" from a "regular" is that the leader is charged with making responsible decisions that are likely
to lead to good outcomes, and to anticipate a hostile environment. From that perspective, possible adversaries are obstacles that one should be prepared
to overcome. They are simply part of circumstance, and assigning blame to them is of no relevance. Like if a captain decides to sail through an ocean full of sharks and icebergs, if his ship sinks no one will take "it was the sharks fault" as an excuse, because that would be entirely missing the point of how well he fulfilled the duty of a captain. It was his job to prepare for sharks and icebergs. Likewise, if someone leaves a car unlocked with the keys inside, of course the person who steals it should be punished, but provided the person who left the car is being considerd for some duty of higher responsibility, this incident should be taken into account as a sign of perhaps not being qualified.

If you like, you can apply this to our recent Fox News smear: Sure, you can blame Fox News for it. You are probably right to do so. But then again, Fox News does what it always does. One can say that Fox is part of the shitty environment that we are in. They are like a filthy swamp we are trying to wade through. But when it comes to the question of whether the leaders fulfilled their assigned duty of dealing with a shitty environment, blaming Fox News is missing the point.