Did I Do Wrong Here?

[FNG]

If you're interested in giving good theiving advice, just stealing some cash is probably best. OTOH, if you're interested in being an reasonable, ethical human being, how about advising your friend to stop hanging out with [censored] thieves, for christ's sake? How the [censored] does this not occur to you to be the default course of aciton here in the first place?

[Dmadmonks]

Every single time I think my opinion of Sklansky couldn't get any lower something like this occurs. Stick to gambling numbers, old man, your moral and ethical calculating faculties seem to be substandard.

[jogger08152]

[ QUOTE ]
Someone I know mentions in passing that two pretty young female friends of hers are enticing guys into Las Vegas hotel rooms and in some non violent way, (that was not described to me in detail,) stealing their wallets.

I asked if they were making use of the credit cards and IDs. She said she didn't think so. I said that if they weren't, they should just steal the money. Since the men would usually be much less upset if they had to deal with only stolen money then a stolen wallet, that might be advantageous to the thieves. And it would certainly be appreciated by the victims if this practice was adopted.

Assuming turning them in was not an option, let's hear the ironclad logical reasons why I should have kept my mouth shut.

[/ QUOTE ]
You've taught them how to steal less obtrusively, which has a small but positive chance of extending their carreer, thereby increasing the number of people from whom they steal.

[Deorum]

Here's a possible argument: By not taking the wallet, the thieves potentially leave fingerprints on it. Therefore, the probability of their being caught through fingerprinting (and this takes into account the % of times that there is no positive ID through the fingerprinting, as well as the times that the victims do not choose to have their wallet fingerprinted for whatever reason) must be lower than the probability of their being caught by having posession of the wallet until they are able to dispose of it properly (this includes the increased likelyhood of a victim investigating the theft further due to having the wallet stolen rather than just the money). I do not know which probability is higher. But it could be either one.

A second, somewhat related argument: If leaving the wallets results in the theft being more efficient (ie. same return with less risk), by teaching them this you are aiding them in becoming more proficient criminals, as well as teaching them to think of crime in terms of cost-benefit (or risk-reward). Not only does this make these people less likely to ever be caught, but it increases the number of crimes they are likely to commit before they are caught.

Generally speaking, the more proficient a person is at something, and the better the understanding that person has of the subject, the more interested in it they will be. By teaching criminals how to commit their crime more efficiently and with less risk, the more interested in crime these people will become. The more interested they become, the more likely they will be to persue other crimes in general, applying their newfound knowledge to those crimes. They will also seek new knowledge after having been introduced to a logical system through which they understand crime. Somebody who would have stopped at stealing wallets may move on to grander projects, projects that when they were stealing with little understanding of criminal logic may have seemed too overwhelming or out of their means, but which now may appear as possible due to their new ability to assess crime.

They may ignore your suggestion. They may take it and think nothing more of it. But you are potentially giving them a dangerous weapon with which to pursue crime more efficiently and on a greater scale.

[betgo]

Sklansky, are you trying to totally ruin your reputation? I think you should seriously consider not associating with this ho. This OP also does serious further damage to Brandi's reputation, as most people assume it is Brandi. You really shouldn't post something like this which seems to confirm people's suspicions about Brandi.

Maybe your problem is that you are too cheap to spend money on young women, as indicated in your other thread. Perhaps you could meet someone after your money who is not an outright ho and thief.

If you are going to associate with sleazy hoes, you might be better off doing it in a less public way.

You write intellectually about poker and gambling, which may indicate an amorality. But the moral level of this OP is extremely questionable.

[Prodigy54321]

take everything out of your wallet
go chill with these pretty women
profit

if they are not already making use of these peoples' IDs, credit cards, etc...you may have just turned a light bulb on in thier heads...the victims may just be better off losing this stuff than actually having it used for identity theft, etc.

I suppose we'd have to estimate the chances of each of the possible outcomes of your little suggestion.

my gut tells me that your suggestion was fine.

[Prodigy54321]

[ QUOTE ]
Sklansky, are you trying to totally ruin your reputation? I think you should seriously consider not associating with this ho. This OP also does serious further damage to Brandi's reputation, as most people assume it is Brandi. You really shouldn't post something like this which seems to confirm people's suspicions about Brandi.

Maybe your problem is that you are too cheap to spend money on young women, as indicated in your other thread. Perhaps you could meet someone after your money who is not an outright ho and thief.

If you are going to associate with sleazy hoes, you might be better off doing it in a less public way.

You write intellectually about poker and gambling, which may indicate an amorality. But the moral level of this OP is extremely questionable.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know of many people who have never known of a criminal that they didn't turn in (even just considering doing things that we think are wrong, not just breaking stupid laws)...and here wa are talking about DS simply associating with a person who has done so...not even the criminals themselves..

I certainly have a mancrush on Sklansky [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], but I don't assume he is some superhuman crime fighter....he's just some guy who happens to be wicked smart and probably a better person that most people by my moral standards...but doing something like investigating further and turning these women in is extreme, even if we do consider DS to hold to a very high moral standard.

[Karak567]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Someone I know (Brandi) mentions in passing that two pretty young female friends of hers (hookers) are enticing guys into Las Vegas hotel rooms and in some non violent way, (that was not described to me in detail,) stealing their wallets (rolling the Johns).

I asked if they were making use of the credit cards and IDs. She said she didn't think so. I said that if they weren't, they should just steal the money. Since the men would usually be much less upset if they had to deal with only stolen money then a stolen wallet, that might be advantageous to the thieves (less likelihood of the Johns going to Police). And it would certainly be appreciated by the victims if this practice was adopted (wouldn't have to explain it to their wives like they would if they had to cancel their cards).

Assuming turning them in was not an option, let's hear the ironclad logical reasons why I should have kept my mouth shut (other than I was abetting a crime by passing on advice about how to do it better).

[/ QUOTE ]

FYP

[/ QUOTE ]

It wasn't Brandi. And would you say the same thing if the thieves were murdering their victims and I convinced them to only rob them?

[/ QUOTE ]

If the thieves were murdering their victims I am pretty sure that the correct action would be to inform the police of what is going on and give up all the information you have. This would surely rocket them into a good position for an investigation. Not saying anything while knowing that serial killers are running around in LV hotels would be pretty bad.

Either way, you are helping criminals commit a crime. That is immoral and possibly illegal (I am no lawyer). Your information has, in your opinion (and that's all that matters here), decreased the chance that they are caught and prosecuted. I don't know why I'm telling you this, because I am sure you are already aware of it.

[betgo]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Sklansky, are you trying to totally ruin your reputation? I think you should seriously consider not associating with this ho. This OP also does serious further damage to Brandi's reputation, as most people assume it is Brandi. You really shouldn't post something like this which seems to confirm people's suspicions about Brandi.

Maybe your problem is that you are too cheap to spend money on young women, as indicated in your other thread. Perhaps you could meet someone after your money who is not an outright ho and thief.

If you are going to associate with sleazy hoes, you might be better off doing it in a less public way.

You write intellectually about poker and gambling, which may indicate an amorality. But the moral level of this OP is extremely questionable.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know of many people who have never known of a criminal that they didn't turn in (even just considering doing things that we think are wrong, not just breaking stupid laws)...and here wa are talking about DS simply associating with a person who has done so...not even the criminals themselves..

I certainly have a mancrush on Sklansky [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], but I don't assume he is some superhuman crime fighter....he's just some guy who happens to be wicked smart and probably a better person that most people by my moral standards...but doing something like investigating further and turning these women in is extreme, even if we do consider DS to hold to a very high moral standard.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't say he should investigate this or turn the criminals in. If a friend of mine asked the question in OP, I certainly wouldn't think of turning anyone in, but I would be concerned about her character, and question whether I should be associating with her. I don't know if I would give an intellectual answer to the question and post it on the Internet.

[doucy]

nothing wrong with the suggestion.

taking just the cash instead of the entire wallet will not significantly decrease the chances of getting caught.