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Hit men aren't what you think

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Re: Hit men aren't what you think

#171

Post by itsanaccount »

whiddershins wrote: post #140
itsanaccount wrote: post #20

[flagged]

There is no excuse for this comment, and frankly if it is on this site the moderation has failed.

Please, before you do such feigned outrage at the erosion of norms and call to anchor that overton window, please suggest how one would balance such a broken system as the American insurance regime and the immense pain and avoidable death it causes.

Because all I'm saying is that unbalanced systems are untenable and will seek to right themselves. The classic soap box, ballot box, jury box, cartridge box applies. People losing faith in the courts was a bad thing and its only gonna get worse from here. Deleting that observation helps no one.

Re: Hit men aren't what you think

#172

Post by nradov »

cdelsolar wrote: post #64
avalys wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By this same logic, you are responsible for the death of every person who could have been saved by you donating all of your income beyond basic living expenses (your personal "profit", if you will) to pay for their medical care. You monster! How many people could you have saved! Instead you spend your money on vacations, television, computer games, music, movies, coffee, whatever. Oh, what's that you say? _You_ (who,…

This is a specious argument. A healthcare provider has a special responsibility because of the nature of their work. By definition, their role involves providing essential care to those in need. Their professional mission and the ethical codes guiding them (e.g., the Hippocratic Oath for physicians) emphasize patient welfare above all. An average person, while still morally capable of altruism, does not have a profes…

Food is even more essential than healthcare. It's a critical social good. Do farmers and grocers therefore have a special responsibility because of the nature of their work?

Re: Hit men aren't what you think

#173

Post by sky_rw »

blahyawnblah wrote: post #44
kube-system wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1) it is not hard to get a silencer. You can make one in under an hour with cheap parts from a hardware store and a drill. As you can to construct an entire gun, if you want a crude option. But this isn’t Japan. Obtaining a commercial silencer doesn’t require someone to smuggle them through international customs, just across state lines. They’re harder to get than a handgun, but not hard enough to get that a determ…

You have to wait at least 8 months (it varies) to get a suppressor when you buy one. You also have to submit passport photos, get finger printed by either the sheriff or police chief, and then wait. This is in addition to a regular NICS type check.

FYI these wait times are now down to about 2 weeks. The ATF decided to do the bare minimum of process improvements and had a ~10X increase in efficiency.

Re: Hit men aren't what you think

#174

Post by stevenwoo »

burningChrome wrote: post #40
itsanaccount wrote: post #20

[flagged]

[flagged]

Zuckerberg is a bad example IMHO, various sources reported on this but Facebook created a space that tolerated and spread incitement to violence that led to thousands of rapes and murders. They saw engagement on hate speech, and promoted the hate speech.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/myanmar-faceb...

Re: Hit men aren't what you think

#175

Post by Teever »

itsanaccount wrote: post #20

[flagged]

I saw a great comment on Reddit that conveyed this idea in a very approachable and succinct way:

"it's important to lead your life in such a way that when you're gunned down in public by an anonymous hitman on a New York City street the country at large doesn't react like the Ewoks watching the second Death Star explode."

Re: Hit men aren't what you think

#177

Post by lazystar »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #160
lazystar wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if you had a chance to go back in time to 1929, you'd leave Hitler alive?

Even the very wise cannot see all ends. Hitler lost the war because he made certain key mistakes -- chasing his country's best scientists out, invading Russia at the wrong time, spending a fortune on gimmicks to murder civilians instead of combat weapons. It's possible that killing Hitler would have paved the way for a more competent, saner leader to emerge.

> It's possible that killing Hitler would have paved the way for a more competent, saner leader to emerge.

only an insane leader would have invaded france from the belgian ardennes; from your logic, ww2 would have been avoided

Re: Hit men aren't what you think

#178

Post by jordanb »

parpfish wrote: post #117
JamesBarney wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most personal assistants are not going to go find an hire a contract killer for their 200k a year job.

yeah, that entry-level FAANG engineer money. and i'm PRETTY sure that those folks aren't paid enough that they're willing to kill for their boss

Reminds me of that scene in Silicon Valley where Gavin clearly wants the protestors killed and he keeps dropping less and less subtle hints at his goons who clearly aren't having it.

Re: Hit men aren't what you think

#179

Post by wds »

1123581321 wrote: post #170
itsanaccount wrote: post #20

[flagged]

That wouldn't work. There are many people who hate anyone famous and think they are responsible for bad things. They would all use that defense. This includes people who seem obviously good to you.

"Anyone famous" in the vast, vast majority of cases is completely detached to the cause of anyone's death or further suffering as a health insurance CEO would be.

Re: Hit men aren't what you think

#180

Post by salawat »

kelseyfrog wrote: post #122
enoch_r wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's functionally isomorphic to a black box where I make a deposit, every time it denies someone medical treatment I get back monetary reward and I can withdraw my deposit at any time. If we ask ourselves, "Should this black box exist?" I cannot reasonably expect people to say, "Yes." Yet, here we are. I am honestly extremely baffled about what your mental model here is. When UHC doesn't deny a claim, who is paying…

I omitted it because it doesn't change the calculus. If the child were brought up into the sunlight out of that vile place, if it were cleaned and fed and comforted, that would be a good thing, indeed; but if it were done, in that day and hour all the prosperity and beauty and delight of Omelas would wither and be destroyed.

>in that day and hour all the prosperity and beauty and delight of Omelas would wither and be destroyed.

...and nothing of positive value would be lost. For a paradise predisposed on the infliction of suffering on another is ill-gotten, and taints anyone that avails themselves of it once it's true nature is known.

Our birthright is to toil to elevate one another; no more, no less. Omelas is a blight, a perversion, deserving of being scoured from the face of the Earth no matter where it pops up.

Glad to see someone else was touched by that work. Greetings fellow wanderer.

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