361–363 of 363 posts
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The Ugly American was a work of fiction.
Not sure I get the point. Yes it was a political novel, a piece of fiction. It was however, based on fact. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugly_American
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You're confusing a mild inconvenience for oppressing your freedoms.
You're confusing the ease of compliance with the nature of the order itself. As an example, banning certain words could be considered a "mild inconvenience", but it's clearly a violation of the first amendment. Border patrol and other police checkpoints, are a "mild inconvenience". They may very well help catch more criminals, but police need to have probable cause and can't just go on fishing expeditions. As far as…
If your idea of freedom is incompatible with a mask-wearing mandate, then I guess I should be able to grocery shop completely naked while masturbating without anyone infringing on my freedoms too?
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- Authoritarianism can be supported by majority, and that first point is essentially argumentum ad populum. The US isn't a direct democracy for good reason, as that is essentially mob/majority rule, and erodes the rights of individuals. - If we're referring to the US, it really doesn't matter what the functions of other governments may be. The founding fathers clearly defined the responsibilities of the federal gover…
You’re right that majority rule is not sufficient by itself, but public opinion should be given at least some weight in a representative democracy. The US Constitution grants states the right to enact laws that protect the general welfare, and of course gives courts the authority to interpret the law. More specifically regarding public health, the 1905 Supreme Court case Jacobson vs. Massachusetts upheld the power of…
The writers of the constitution have explicitly said in the Federalist papers that the "general welfare" phrase is not meant to imply anything beyond the enumerated powers listed afterwards. That the courts interpret it the way you say they do is just an example how the Constitution became just a parchment which is taken to mean whatever is convenient at any particular moment.