Whether it is in the chaos of physical world, the ephemeral turmoil of psychology, or the speculative arenas of economics, a victim is an individual that is on the receiving end of a disadvantage. The fly eaten by a spider, the child abused by a paedophile, or the investor that looses money to a fraudster are all victims because their circumstances have been significantly disadvantaged to various degrees. A victim is an individual entity whose vulnerability has been exposed... by another entity or by a disruption of the social or physical environment. The world is a dangerous and uncertain place. Victims are... by definition... all the individuals which are harmed by those physical, mental or economic phenomena which can do so. Carnivores, floods and volcanic eruptions, wars, vehicles and stock markets, all contribute regularly to the ever-growing and unbounded accumulating class of victims. Anything that lives will be a victim of something... somewhere... sometime.

Nature evolves by victimization. In the natural world, victimization is an essential element of evolution. The gardener sees worms become the victims of kingfishers, baby thrushes become the victims of rats, apples become the victims of codlin moth, and flowers become victims of of adverse weather. For all living entities, being a victim of something is an essential aspect of the circumstances of nature. There is little, if any, place for a sense of fairness or retribution.

The policing of a human system of laws inevitably results in the justice system concentrating upon administering penalties, since societies to date have shown little interest in rewarding individuals for conforming. A justice system therefore is strongly biased towards making individuals victims of its retribution. A justice system develops a victim-producing mentality. Outside of their realm of endeavours however, legal and justice systems are entirely useless in the prevention of victimization in the society at large... although they assume they are imbued with a profound hindsight as to what alternative actions would have been influential when an actual sequence of events is being reconstructed. In a general social situation, the continuing realities of evolution determine that individuals or groups who are attacked without provocation... in the absence of immediate and effective assistance... have a natural right of total retaliation. Those who attack and attempt to victimize because of the state's inability to provide protection, should expect nothing less than a total response without quarter. Justice and legal systems need to modify their victimization preoccupations and recognize that individuals already disadvantaged by events, have no need of their administrations of further retribution.

Although there are obviously no certainties in life, taking precautions to avoid being a victim is a pragmatic option. Animals and plants evolve defence mechanisms to attempt some protection. Humans should avoid building upon a fault-line with unrestrained rocks and masonry if they wish to avoid becoming victims of an earthquake. The options need to be weighed and the obvious prudent action taken. If an apprehension about being the victim of a tsunami is uppermost, then choice of a residence near the sea would be foolish. If a fear of drowning cannot be allayed, then learn to swim or stay out of the water. No amount of preparation however, seems to be of any point for some events... like being flattened by a galactic megaton ferrous meteorite... although some effort is still being expended in researching the effectiveness of prayer. Provided it takes place in a region removed from the vicinity of geological fault-lines, shorelines, river plains, severe atmospheric disturbances, or on deep ocean surfaces, the practice of asking a hypothetical cosmic executive for insurance seems to be reasonably effective. Outside these regions however, victimization relief is virtually non-existent.