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Comment by raganwald | Hacker News Reader

Oddly, such stories are often held up as examples of why we should have less government and pay lower taxes, instead of suggesting that perhaps budget cutbacks are the reason the police have to prioritize and can't send investigators out to recover every laptop stolen from a car.

I'm not arguing the case either way, just suggesting that such stories are often interpreted through the filter of our existing bias.

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The State, like Twitter, is good at some things, and not at others. People insist on using it for things in both categories. So 'give the police more money' is not always a great idea for reducing crime - I'm from an area where the police have enough money to buy very nice toys indeed, but that strangely hasn't accompanied a drop in abuse of police power, police racism, or prosecution of the abominable War On Drugs.

As for filters - I admire the woman in the story, because she is a great example of the entrepreneurial mindset.

1: Attempt to achieve your goal by conventional means (call police).

2: Actually notice that conventional means will not get you what you want.

3: Come up with an alternate plan (DIY sting operation).

4: Execute fearlessly.

I argue that those four steps, broadly, are what a good startup founder does.

I agree with all of those points, however that while she has things in common with great startup entrepreneurs, here on Hacker News we usually contemplate ventures that offer more upside than the return of a laptop and less downside than death :-)

That is a good value of 'usual,' and I agree with it - but I think it's also, sometimes, valuable to consider those characteristics in the small. I actually have a specific person in my life to whom I'm going to repeat this story, with the four-points explanation, to encourage them on the path to starting their own company.

"downside of death?"

She probably risked her life more by driving to the Starbucks than she did confronting the thief in a busy public location in one of the safest cities in the world. Turn off your TV and get outside.

I wonder how the people suggesting less government and lower taxes would advise you to deal with a crime that was more serious - for instance, what if instead of her laptop being stolen, someone torched her house.

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