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The fallacy is about doing nothing because one action might eventually lead to a bad action being taken. The solution is to still take the action (e.g. not work

by bkor 8y ago

The fallacy is about doing nothing because one action might eventually lead to a bad action being taken. The solution is to still take the action (e.g. not working together), while being careful not to immediately go on a witch hunt for any deemed wrong. The response from Microsoft management is good I think. They mention it's just about email, calendar, etc. There's nothing special in providing that. The Google case was quite different.

cm2187 8y ago
The US constitution is built on the idea that if a power is given it will be abused, and it is this fundamental distrust of any power given and the builtin counterpowers that have made its success over the long run. It is not a fallacy, it should be the first thing anyone should consider when establishing a new authority.
- Certhas 8y ago
  We have an entire huge system of justice and courts built for just that purpose. You are simply ignoring that this is not a new or unique problem but a pervasive and generally solved issue. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, but not using the tools at the disposal of our democratic society, when people abuse this freedom to lie and cheat to undermine rational discourse is just dying another death. With how entrenched outright lies are in the US right now (c.f. FOX airing people claiming that the crying children at the border are child actors) it will be a long fight back. And every step of that fight back to rationality will be accompanied by people like you standing aside going "well, their just voicing their opinion. And what's a lie anyway.". Now if this was just the US affecting the US that would be one thing, but with the US remaining the largest military superpower and the largest emitter of greenhouse gases unfortunately it's dysfunctional political discourse is being projected deep into the rest of the world... --- Incidentally when looking up exact quotes for another reply in this thread I found this WaPo article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/10/trumps-ambassador-to-netherlands-was-asked-to-name-a-person-burned-because-of-islam-he-couldnt/?utm_term=.5aac12e07c38 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/10... "Dutch journalists peppered Hoekstra with questions on unsubstantiated claims he made in 2015 about chaos that the “Islamic movement” had allegedly brought to the Netherlands. “There are cars being burned. There are politicians that are being burned,” he said then, at a conference hosted by a conservative group. “And yes, there are no-go zones in the Netherlands.” The comments have widely been described as inaccurate, [...]" Right. 'Inaccurate', not even the WaPo is calling a lie a lie.

by bkor 8y ago

cm2187 8y ago

The US constitution is built on the idea that if a power is given it will be abused, and it is this fundamental distrust of any power given and the builtin counterpowers that have made its success over the long run. It is not a fallacy, it should be the first thing anyone should consider when establishing a new authority.

Certhas 8y ago
We have an entire huge system of justice and courts built for just that purpose. You are simply ignoring that this is not a new or unique problem but a pervasive and generally solved issue. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, but not using the tools at the disposal of our democratic society, when people abuse this freedom to lie and cheat to undermine rational discourse is just dying another death. With how entrenched outright lies are in the US right now (c.f. FOX airing people claiming that the crying children at the border are child actors) it will be a long fight back. And every step of that fight back to rationality will be accompanied by people like you standing aside going "well, their just voicing their opinion. And what's a lie anyway.". Now if this was just the US affecting the US that would be one thing, but with the US remaining the largest military superpower and the largest emitter of greenhouse gases unfortunately it's dysfunctional political discourse is being projected deep into the rest of the world... --- Incidentally when looking up exact quotes for another reply in this thread I found this WaPo article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/10/trumps-ambassador-to-netherlands-was-asked-to-name-a-person-burned-because-of-islam-he-couldnt/?utm_term=.5aac12e07c38 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/10... "Dutch journalists peppered Hoekstra with questions on unsubstantiated claims he made in 2015 about chaos that the “Islamic movement” had allegedly brought to the Netherlands. “There are cars being burned. There are politicians that are being burned,” he said then, at a conference hosted by a conservative group. “And yes, there are no-go zones in the Netherlands.” The comments have widely been described as inaccurate, [...]" Right. 'Inaccurate', not even the WaPo is calling a lie a lie.