Hypothetical: You have to walk 10 miles, >95% of it on sidewalks, through the bad part(s) of a dangerous American city starting at 9:00 PM on a Saturday night. Who of the following (in the body of this post) would you rather have as de facto bodyguards?
1a. Those randomly chosen consent and will collectively get $10 000 if you make through safely.
2b. No one in these choices is armed: at least not when you all begin your walk.
3c. 6 oz of alcohol is 100% and can be in the form of 12 oz of 100 proof booze, 48 oz of 25 proof wine, 192 oz of 6.25 proof beer, etc.
4d. The Roman, Chinese, and Zulu groups each have a middle age female translator.
16 randomly chosen female Americans, 25 to 35
12 randomly chosen male Americans, 25 to 35, 4’9" to 5’3"
12 randomly chosen male Americans, 25 to 35, each who has drunk 6 oz of alcohol in the past 30 minutes
12 randomly chosen male Americans, 55 to 70
24 randomly chosen Americans, 65 to 80
8 randomly chosen male Americans, 25 to 35
1 random person who’s been in the US Marines for over 10 years, but is under 35
6 Roman soldiers (circa 100 AD)
8 Chinese soldiers (circa 100 AD)
4 Zulu warriors (circa 1600 AD)
1 T-800 terminator in the same condition as the one in T-2 just before it got dipped in the molten metal
As they are randomly selected, the Americans could be proportionate to American demographics; but if you wish, we can make all of the Americans of East Asian descent, except for the short guys, who will be all white and of Northern European descent. Does that make you happy?
No! The problem is the idea that you’d need bodyguards to walk through any part of an American city. You know people live in these neighborhoods, right? And we survive our Saturday nights just fine.
Yes, and despite the hyperventilating about crime in the US by America’s political right, the murder rate has fallen these past few decades.
Nonetheless, there are risks.
You yourself might stride South Central LA, Bronx, Detroit, the nation’s capital, et al, with confidence, and probably incur no harm, but unless you think any of these would increase the risk to your personal safety while you walk the 10 miles, maybe you want to choose one.