4 ms·

Not sure there have ever been absolute rights in the United States. So that means rights have to be weighed against certain circumstances. If the democratic so

by ENOTTY 9y ago

Not sure there have ever been absolute rights in the United States. So that means rights have to be weighed against certain circumstances. If the democratic society decides against your conception of the proper weighing of rights, you have the right to continue to try to convince your peers while complying with the law, or to leave.

qball 9y ago
>If the democratic society decides against your conception of the proper weighing of rights, you have the right to continue to try to convince your peers while complying with the law Society is always right, by definition. When your democratic society decides it's OK to kill all of Subgroup X, I guess that's totally fine morally and ethically (and if you're a member of Subgroup X, it's unethical to defend yourself). After all, the majority has investigated itself and found that it has done nothing wrong.
- ENOTTY 9y ago
  Yep! As a minority, you better hope that (or can convince) the majority values the rights that you use most often (life, due process, etc) over what the majority sees as the gain from depriving you of your rights. This is fundamentally authoritarian, I acknowledge. But it's reality and believing it's the opposite doesn't do anyone any good.
  - mindslight 9y ago
    Like the joke about the economist that does not reach down to pick up a $20 bill off the sidewalk (because if it were a real $20 bill, someone would have picked it up already!), you're ignoring the remainders. The main one being what is actually possible to enforce. The majority of citizens being bannermen for the government can yield pretty in-depth control (eg report your deviant neighbors), but there are still limits. For example, any government was hard pressed to discover and record exactly what people said in the privacy of their own homes, until QualGoogAzon came along.

4 ms·

Not sure there have ever been absolute rights in the United States. So that means rights have to be weighed against certain circumstances. If the democratic so

by ENOTTY 9y ago

qball 9y ago
>If the democratic society decides against your conception of the proper weighing of rights, you have the right to continue to try to convince your peers while complying with the law Society is always right, by definition. When your democratic society decides it's OK to kill all of Subgroup X, I guess that's totally fine morally and ethically (and if you're a member of Subgroup X, it's unethical to defend yourself). After all, the majority has investigated itself and found that it has done nothing wrong.
- ENOTTY 9y ago
  Yep! As a minority, you better hope that (or can convince) the majority values the rights that you use most often (life, due process, etc) over what the majority sees as the gain from depriving you of your rights. This is fundamentally authoritarian, I acknowledge. But it's reality and believing it's the opposite doesn't do anyone any good.
  - mindslight 9y ago
    Like the joke about the economist that does not reach down to pick up a $20 bill off the sidewalk (because if it were a real $20 bill, someone would have picked it up already!), you're ignoring the remainders. The main one being what is actually possible to enforce. The majority of citizens being bannermen for the government can yield pretty in-depth control (eg report your deviant neighbors), but there are still limits. For example, any government was hard pressed to discover and record exactly what people said in the privacy of their own homes, until QualGoogAzon came along.