Earlier quoted context omitted.
Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law. - The Categorical imperative (Kant). Basically, it's the next level of "do unto others". To determine whether your action is right or wrong, ask yourself what would happen to society if every person performed that action as a matter of habit.
When I was 18, I'm sure I would have agreed with you. After some more time living among other people, I think I can say I've moved past that. If you have not, all the more power to you!
Russian whistleblower was assassinated after uncovering $200B scandal (2018)
71–80 of 101 posts
Re: Russian whistleblower was assassinated after uncovering $200B scandal (2018)
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
So we could call this guy stupid, or hail him as a hero. In which society would you like you and your children to live in, the one where heroes are acknowledged or the one they are dismissed as dumb and irrational? Mind you, calling someone a hero cost you next to nothing in utility so I think the choice is a no brainier.
>In which society would you like you and your children to live in, the one where heroes are acknowledged or the one they are dismissed as dumb and irrational? I would like to live in the former, but you have to face reality: we do not live in such a society, we live in one where heroes like him will only be murdered, and no one will really care as it'll be forgotten quickly.
People who expose corruption don't always live to see the day their efforts make a difference. But the bad guys don't always win either.
Re: Russian whistleblower was assassinated after uncovering $200B scandal (2018)
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is why humanity invented the Hero. We recognize that irrational selflessness can be extremely beneficial for society. The more heroes we have, the less corrupt the system, the stakes of corruption would be lower and the price of heroism should decrease, thus society at large and these selfless heros will probably benefit together.
Heroes are characterized by extreme competence at something. Some people dedicate that to doing good because they believe it to be valuable for it's own sake. Selflessness just gets you walked over. Being good is both an individual positive for the hero and a collective gain for the people.
Re: Russian whistleblower was assassinated after uncovering $200B scandal (2018)
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is why humanity invented the Hero. We recognize that irrational selflessness can be extremely beneficial for society. The more heroes we have, the less corrupt the system, the stakes of corruption would be lower and the price of heroism should decrease, thus society at large and these selfless heros will probably benefit together.
Heroes are characterized by extreme competence at something. Some people dedicate that to doing good because they believe it to be valuable for it's own sake. Selflessness just gets you walked over. Being good is both an individual positive for the hero and a collective gain for the people.
Re: Russian whistleblower was assassinated after uncovering $200B scandal (2018)
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah that's all nice and shiny, but imagine if those taxes were simply stolen by corrupt government. Your mom would die from simple appendectomy infection because hospitals don't have enough money to do things properly. Plus if you got fired, you would have next to 0 support from the state, and either you have some savings you just eat through or your kids starve. And on top of that, any simple bureaucracy you want t…
> imagine if those taxes were simply stolen by corrupt government of course effective taxation systems always have implicit requirement of no or low corruption. what's the point of imagining the thing you're saying? imagine a giant asteroid hit your home - how is anything you're doing in your life relevant?
I don't think people in the west understand how dysfunctional society can be if corruption is everywhere.
If somebody from Sweden states how he is happy about being taxed because he/she sees the results, thats great. It doesn't mean anything for place like Russia where you simply don't see much coming back to you from state, but you very clearly see how some corrupt / well connected / mafia are getting back most of it.
Re: Russian whistleblower was assassinated after uncovering $200B scandal (2018)
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
If Jeff Bezos was to commit murder tomorrow and be caught I suspect the police would chase him, catch him, throw him in jail, he'd make bail and it would turn into a scene like OJ. I don't expect he'd be able to raise an army to break him out or defend is home. He might be able to flee the country but even that might be hard even with all his money. If he had covertly planned ahead and already had his mercenary army…
Recently a Mexican cartel outgunned the Mexican police and forced the release of El Chapo's son. It's hard to imagine something like that happening in a wealthy country, but it's not unheard of in the real world. https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/31/americas/el-chapo-son-operati...
The difference in what's basically a warlord who already has loyal troops to command, controls territory, and assets that can't be easily seized and Jeff Bezos is too much to make a comparison remotely useful.
Re: Russian whistleblower was assassinated after uncovering $200B scandal (2018)
#77All tax money in Russia and elsewhere is stolen and therefore dirty and corrupt to begin with anyway. Try not paying taxes and you'll get jailed -- and if you refuse this you'll get gunned down. I think doing anything you can to avoid paying taxes without getting yourself into trouble is a moral obligation.
I like paying taxes. I get "free" healthcare and education and so many other things here in Sweden that wouldn't be possible without taxes. Simply not having to ever think about the financials of those things is worth a good 5% taxes if you ask me. I wouldn't want to pay any less in taxes if it meant taking any of that away, but I would happily pitch in more if each additional krona would do as much or more than the…
Re: Russian whistleblower was assassinated after uncovering $200B scandal (2018)
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
US Intelligence as well as several independent cyber security firms concluded the DNC e-mails were leaked after an attack by Guccifer 2.0. This was followed up by several indictments issued by Special Counsel Robert Mueller which would have to be tried in a federal courtroom were they ever to occur. That seems to be a fair bit of evidence. Is everything a conspiracy now? It’s quite clear Russia meddled in the 2016 el…
US intelligence never examined the physical server, the cyber security firm was a client of the DNC, intel community simply accepted the findings without verification.
Re: Russian whistleblower was assassinated after uncovering $200B scandal (2018)
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
> reward This person is dead. We can thus deduce the reward is death. While that is a big reward, it's not one most people want.
Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law. - The Categorical imperative (Kant). Basically, it's the next level of "do unto others". To determine whether your action is right or wrong, ask yourself what would happen to society if every person performed that action as a matter of habit.
In small children "theory of mind" develops, the child supposes that perhaps this experience they're having, whatever that is, is also an experience the other people who look like them are having. And this theory works well, you can make useful predictions with it. Because Daddy is like you, and you like apple drink better than pond water, you can surmise correctly that Daddy will prefer the apple drink over the pond water too. Being smacked in the face (e.g. by your own unco-ordinated limbs) hurts, and so it's not a surprise that Daddy doesn't like a smack in the face either.
But the explanatory power of theory of mind is limited if you stop there. I don't like Peanut Butter. But it turns out that other people _do_ like Peanut Butter, their minds are similar but not identical. If I see some bread with Peanut Butter spread on it, to me that bread is ruined, but to someone else that's a delicious snack.
I don't want to marry. So for me a Categorical Imperative forbidding marriage is no problem. But it's clear to me that other people value marriage and so, against my better judgement, it should continue to be permitted. Some people feel marriage should be restricted, that couples ought to be of opposite biological sex, or the same skin colour, or of child-bearing age, or whatever other constraint. I have no dog in that fight but it's simplest if we're to allow something I have no need for, to assume that everybody will avail themselves of this custom only if they value it, and so it may as well be open to everyone until we see some clear evidence of ill-effects.
Re: Russian whistleblower was assassinated after uncovering $200B scandal (2018)
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
So we could call this guy stupid, or hail him as a hero. In which society would you like you and your children to live in, the one where heroes are acknowledged or the one they are dismissed as dumb and irrational? Mind you, calling someone a hero cost you next to nothing in utility so I think the choice is a no brainier.
> Mind you, calling someone a hero cost you next to nothing in utility so I think the choice is a no brainier. People who express their homosexuality in Russia face repercussions. Someone who opposes racism such as black face in The Netherlands gets repercussions. Someone who leaks a video of war crimes faces repercussions. Expressing your support for these people likely has repercussions as well. They might not be o…