4 ms·

> Or was he the victim—as the suit alleged—of a system carefully calibrated to prey upon his weakness, one that robbed him of his money, his hope, and ultimatel

by choward 10y ago

> Or was he the victim—as the suit alleged—of a system carefully calibrated to prey upon his weakness, one that robbed him of his money, his hope, and ultimately his life Isn't this all businesses in a capitalist system? Try to get as money as you can from people legally.

Kenji 10y ago
Of course you're right. The quoted statement is part of a broader attack on self-responsibility that is taking place in the western world. We all are poor poor beings who bear no responsibilities for our flaws. Bad at school? It's a mental disorder. Gambling addiction? It's a bug in the brain. Everybody else is responsible for one's woes. This way of thinking is incredibly toxic and prevents human flourishing. To blame other people for your faults is to deny yourself the opportunity for betterment. And I say that as someone who doesn't necessarily believe in free will.
- uw_rob 10y ago
  > This way of thinking is incredibly toxic and prevents human flourishing. To blame other people for your faults is to deny yourself the opportunity for betterment. This is a non-sequitur. Someone taking a stance against gambling doesn't mean they are problem gamblers. > Bad at school? It's a mental disorder. It goes without saying that not everyone who is bad at school has a mental disorder, but having a mental disorder can obviously have an adverse effect on performance at school. If you google for "Correlation between mental disorders and school marks" you can find some studies that seem to indicate that there is a correlation[0]. > Gambling addiction? It's a bug in the brain. Everybody else is responsible for one's woes What else would you call it? It has a negative expected value yet I've meet otherwise very smart people who gamble far more than they can afford desperate to make money. Doesn't remove responsibility, but why should we as a society be expected to accommodate businesses that hurt individuals? [0] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814001876 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814...
grzm 10y ago
Can you expand on your statement? Some questions come to mind: - Is capitalism in and of itself good? - Are humans purely rational beings? Should they be treated as such? - Does legality imply ethics? If it's legal does that mean it's good? - Laws change. Does that mean that ethics change at the same time as laws? - If people want to create laws and regulations that prevent them from making common mistakes at the expense of pure freedom, is that okay? There's limited information in your comment, so please don't take these questions as an assumption on my part of what you believe.

by choward 10y ago

Kenji 10y ago

Of course you're right. The quoted statement is part of a broader attack on self-responsibility that is taking place in the western world. We all are poor poor beings who bear no responsibilities for our flaws. Bad at school? It's a mental disorder. Gambling addiction? It's a bug in the brain. Everybody else is responsible for one's woes. This way of thinking is incredibly toxic and prevents human flourishing. To blame other people for your faults is to deny yourself the opportunity for betterment. And I say that as someone who doesn't necessarily believe in free will.

uw_rob 10y ago
> This way of thinking is incredibly toxic and prevents human flourishing. To blame other people for your faults is to deny yourself the opportunity for betterment. This is a non-sequitur. Someone taking a stance against gambling doesn't mean they are problem gamblers. > Bad at school? It's a mental disorder. It goes without saying that not everyone who is bad at school has a mental disorder, but having a mental disorder can obviously have an adverse effect on performance at school. If you google for "Correlation between mental disorders and school marks" you can find some studies that seem to indicate that there is a correlation[0]. > Gambling addiction? It's a bug in the brain. Everybody else is responsible for one's woes What else would you call it? It has a negative expected value yet I've meet otherwise very smart people who gamble far more than they can afford desperate to make money. Doesn't remove responsibility, but why should we as a society be expected to accommodate businesses that hurt individuals? [0] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814001876 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814...

grzm 10y ago

Can you expand on your statement? Some questions come to mind: - Is capitalism in and of itself good? - Are humans purely rational beings? Should they be treated as such? - Does legality imply ethics? If it's legal does that mean it's good? - Laws change. Does that mean that ethics change at the same time as laws? - If people want to create laws and regulations that prevent them from making common mistakes at the expense of pure freedom, is that okay? There's limited information in your comment, so please don't take these questions as an assumption on my part of what you believe.