There are many things that define the level of civilization we have reached.
It is sometimes interesting that what we call a civilized country with a well-developed infrastructure, big businesses headquartered there, impressive top medical facilities, well-established school system, and pushing the borders of science in various fields, could fail at some basic human needs like shelter, food, water, or security (not having your life constantly in danger, if that's not your job). Of course, problems aren't the same everywhere, and they are often related to poverty or poor neighborhoods. But even poverty, homeless people are a problem one wouldn't expect to find so easily in civilized countries. And yet they are.
Image generated by AI.
I was thinking today after seeing some rough neighborhoods in a few videos, that I am fortunate to live in a town where people are not afraid to walk alone or in small groups after day light goes away. I am thinking this is true for all parts of the town, although I haven't walked to all parts of town recently to see how things have changed. You may occasionally run into a drunk person or maybe even under the influence of drugs, and it's best to avoid them, because they are not thinking straight. But personally, I sometimes get scared when dogs start barking next to me, even if they are from behind a fence. I don't seem to have a problem with people (or they don't have a problem with me), no matter how intoxicated they are. But I don't provoke them either.
You might think I live dangerously. Not really. These are rare situations. I've seen ladies or girls, walking alone late in the evening through rather dark places. They usually go in pairs though, and if they go alone, they usually speak on the phone, which to me seems like they aren't really comfortable.
But I bet in other places they wouldn't dare do that at all. To the other side of the spectrum, I've seen a place in a video where people went with a full car and with someone from the neighborhood to avoid any problems. Of course, one of them was a foreigner (an American) and with a rather expensive car in a poor and dangerous neighborhood, which to me seemed kind of reckless. But when you visit 194 countries, including war zones, you must be a little nuts.
So... I was curious... How safe is your town/city? Would you walk alone at night? High risk of getting mugged, beaten, stabbed, shot, kidnapped, raped?