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Killing people is illegal because it reduces the number of taxpayers. If ants paid taxes they'd be protected too. Killing people who don't pay taxes isn't okay
by btrask 8y ago
Killing people is illegal because it reduces the number of taxpayers. If ants paid taxes they'd be protected too. Killing people who don't pay taxes isn't okay because we'd rather make them pay than put them to death.
I'm joking, obviously, but I think there needs to be a separation between law and ethics because they serve different purposes. For example, I think all personal drug use is ethical, but some drugs become a problem when used on a societal scale.
Edit: And conversely, I think being pointlessly mean to people is unethical, but it's not something that can or should be legislated.
- pretendscholar 8y ago>Killing people is illegal because it reduces the number of taxpayers. Hacker News intellectuals. Despite old people being a net drain on the system we don't kill them.
- btrask 8y agoI didn't downvote you, but you clearly didn't make it to the second paragraph. I was (partially) trying to poke fun at those people.
- pretendscholar 8y agoOops, your impression was pretty good because I swear I've seen people say that on HN before and rage quit after the first paragraph.