protect yourself from idealistic delusions
We wish this wasn’t true; but, our world is a dangerous place. We wish we didn’t have to say this; but, we must prepare ourselves to face those potential dangers. Most of us, thankfully, have had the blessing of not living our daily lives within harsh circumstances. Because of the general safety that most of us live in today in this society, we have the opportunity to choose to embrace idealistic perspectives of human nature. This, however, can make us inadvertently naive and oblivious to real and present threats that are not as far from us as we would like to hope.
As said in previous discussions, we do not believe that anyone should live in paranoia or anxiety; in fact, it is quite the opposite. We want everyone to live reasonably alert and prepared for the purpose of ridding ourselves of the sources of fear. We want you to be confident, safe, and extremely capable. To this end, knowledge is power!
Lamentably, the numbers are appalling.
Atrociously, a reported 1 in every 3 women in this country have been attacked to some degree, and a staggering 1 in every 5 women have reported to have had to endure a completed or attempted sexual assault; in 2018 alone, 734,630 women reported to being sexually assaulted. Various reports indicate that over 48% of women have had incidents of stalking. And, it has been reported that 85% of women throughout the country have been victims of domestic violence. Even if the reporting is exaggerated or slightly inaccurate, the conversation is unacceptable. We cannot attest to the precise accuracy of the statistics above, but even if the numbers above were cut in half we would still be appalled. The only number we would find acceptable is zero. No one should ever be forced to experience harm.
While we have previously sought (whether successfully or not) to present balanced perspectives and avoid extreme opinions, we will boldly state the following: anyone who violates your physical safety forfeits their own. We believe you should have the ability to use whatever means necessary to protect your life from serious and imminent threats.
As an important note, we recognize that there are many who have not had the privilege of living sheltered from abuse. Because of this our hearts are broken for you and with you. It shouldn’t have happened. We want it to end, and we want to help you stop it from ever happening again. But, please, know that you are not alone; you are, unfortunately, not the only one who has had to endure. And, most importantly, you do not have to stand alone now.
To all, please make yourself prepared and stay safe.
