Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, in democratic societies you have the rule of law. This usually blocks incumbents from changing the rules as they wish. Yes of course natural rights don't really exist, but legal rights enforcing some of them are about as real as money.
> No, in democratic societies you have the rule of law. Democracy and legalism are orthogonal concepts, though both tend to be (rhetorically, if not always as much practically) ideals of liberal government.
The chat control proposal does not belong in democratic societies
371–380 of 425 posts
Re: The chat control proposal does not belong in democratic societies
#372Suggested alternative: The "End Political Corruption Proposal" "Given that political corruption is rife in European countries, with great detriments to the healthy function of government, all politicians in positions where they may be engaging in corrupt behavior must submit to 24-7 audio and video surveillance, which will be piped over public platforms for crowdsourcing of corruption detection. All personal communic…
Workers who actually deal with confidential/personal information on citizens are the ones with the privilege to work without such monitoring.
Re: The chat control proposal does not belong in democratic societies
#373Earlier quoted context omitted.
If H. Clinton vs D. Trump or D. Trump vs J. Biden are the only choice for the most powerful politic job in the world .. I think they are really not the-best-of-the-best
This is a better argument for the American public making in general poor choices and political parties giving them the kind of people they are apt to vote for rather than paying insufficient salaries.
Re: The chat control proposal does not belong in democratic societies
#374Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have thought for some years now that any country wanting to implement some kind of restrictions or surveillance should start with politicians and authorities first. With some select authorities being exempt from this due to national security. For example, if a country wants to implement the installation of state-owned anti-harassment "spyware" on their citizens phones, then this would first apply to politicians and…
If thought of something similar but comprehensive and far reaching, as follows: Any law voted yes by a politician would have: A 6mo cool off period, and in that interim periodthe following would apply: the law in question would be Tripled (3x) and both ways (I.e. retroactive and future) to the elected officials, his immediate parents, sons, and siblings, as soon as the law is passed. So if they pass a tax increase, t…
We should also start to judge them based on outcomes rather than pointless metrics like GDP. How much did poverty decrease during your governments? How about crime? Life expectancy? And so on.
Re: The chat control proposal does not belong in democratic societies
#375Re: The chat control proposal does not belong in democratic societies
#376If anyone comes up with such a solution, he will achieve two goods:
- protect children
- remove a motive for surveilence
Let's brainstorm?Re: The chat control proposal does not belong in democratic societies
#377Earlier quoted context omitted.
Statement A is wrong because the person who said it is stupid. Why are they stupid? Because they said statement A. Using circular logic to refute someone's point isn't too smart either.
Hatred and bigotry are wielded by the weak, angry, stupid, and scared. If your position is congruent with the parent comment, I know exactly what you are. I have no reason to debate small humans. "Using circular logic to refute someone's point isn't too smart either." Also, straw man. I chose "disregard" intentionally. Disregard is not synonymous with refute.
> > Using circular logic
It is best for your criticisms of things to be founded in truth, where possible. The first and last resort is the truth. It's a good habit to get into. There were plenty of other things you could have said, including:
> No, it's actually quite relevant.
You needn't worry about the truth justifying bigotry, in case that's the issue: while it's theoretically possible for a given piece of bigotry to have a basis in fact, reality seems to have some rather strong opinions on the matter! :-) If bigoted rhetoric had a habit of being correct, I think I would've found out by now. And if it were true, you would expect to see certain kinds of bigotry popping up in multiple places independently; rather than having traceable provenance, either as adaptions of prior bigotry, or as traced back to a historical figure with a strong and documented motivation for having people believe it.
That's not to say you need to put much effort into responding. But if you feel like putting that little effort in, it's best not to respond at all.[2]
[0]: https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/stupid-is-an-able...
[1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20110824041258/http://www.stupid... (see especially page 24)
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Deny_recognition
Re: The chat control proposal does not belong in democratic societies
#378Earlier quoted context omitted.
> No, in democratic societies you have the rule of law. Democracy and legalism are orthogonal concepts, though both tend to be (rhetorically, if not always as much practically) ideals of liberal government.
I don't follow. Are you saying that subscribing to the notion that democratic societies have certain rights protected by law is legalism?
The particular blend where each limits the other that has come to define liberal democratic government is not the same as the broader concept of “democracy”.
Re: The chat control proposal does not belong in democratic societies
#379Suggested alternative: The "End Political Corruption Proposal" "Given that political corruption is rife in European countries, with great detriments to the healthy function of government, all politicians in positions where they may be engaging in corrupt behavior must submit to 24-7 audio and video surveillance, which will be piped over public platforms for crowdsourcing of corruption detection. All personal communic…
This would be delightful. Being a politician should be a curse that the dedicated bear for the good of humanity, not cushy job and badge of pride.
Re: The chat control proposal does not belong in democratic societies
#380Suggested alternative: The "End Political Corruption Proposal" "Given that political corruption is rife in European countries, with great detriments to the healthy function of government, all politicians in positions where they may be engaging in corrupt behavior must submit to 24-7 audio and video surveillance, which will be piped over public platforms for crowdsourcing of corruption detection. All personal communic…
All of this would be fixed, and more, if we brought back Athenian style ostracism by public vote!