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If a robber is holding an innocent at gunpoint and the innocent pulls out a gun and starts pointing it at the robber, has the situation escalated?

5 days ago | parent | next [-]

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ceejayoz 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I mean, maybe. If the robber is using a replica firearm, the innocent may have successfully deescalated the situation.

The question in this thread is more along the lines of "if the robber shouts 'fighting back is a red line!', should we avoid fighting back?"

Whether or not the innocent should avoid fighting back and whether or not fighting back would result in an escalation are two separate questions

	▲	ceejayoz 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		Only sorta; they've heavily linked. The current war in Ukraine is a direct result of the international community not making much fuss when Russia, largely unopposed, took chunks of Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine over the last few decades. As with appeasing Hitler, we prioritized short-term quiet for longer-term encouragement of aggression.