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Just because the public wants something doesn't make it right.

by klbarry 16y ago

pmichaud 16y ago
The reality is that this is exactly how we as a species define "right": we do what we want to do, and eventually we invent justifications and frameworks to make what we already do the "right" thing. Eventually, when enough people don't want to do something anymore, that becomes "wrong." I'm not saying this is how it should rightly be, I'm just saying this is how it is. I bet you eat animals that have been tortured and killed in factory farms, and you have a bunch of a really great justifications for that. QED.
- wzdd 16y ago
  >I bet you eat animals that have been tortured and killed in factory farms, and you have a bunch of a really great justifications for that. QED. As a vegetarian I feel that bringing out this argument (implying that a particular person is hypocritical -- and yes, I understand the societally-approved point), in response to a discussion on copyright patents, is below the standard of discussion I expect from HN. In general this discussion seems to include a lot of "no it isn't" / "yes it is" type bickering without much substance, and to be honest I blame the original article, which was content-free. Up above we have people arguing for the abolition of all intellectual property, and others claiming that mob rule is the basis for democracy. I don't see why the issue is such a binary one. Clearly the patent system needs reform. It's not at all clear that it needs to disappear entirely.
wazoox 16y ago
Will of the people, does that ring any bell? I'm pretty much sure that's what "democracy" means. Notice that I don't pretend that the public opinion can't or shouldn't change. It did in the past, about slavery, colonialism, women rights, and many other matters. However I insist on the fact that after several decades of propaganda, legal battles and laws, the public still is unconvinced.
jawee 16y ago
¨...a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest¨ -Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

Just because the public wants something doesn't make it right.

by klbarry 16y ago

Just because the public wants something doesn't make it right.

The reality is that this is exactly how we as a species define "right": we do what we want to do, and eventually we invent justifications and frameworks to make what we already do the "right" thing. Eventually, when enough people don't want to do something anymore, that becomes "wrong." I'm not saying this is how it should rightly be, I'm just saying this is how it is. I bet you eat animals that have been tortured and killed in factory farms, and you have a bunch of a really great justifications for that. QED.

wzdd 16y ago
>I bet you eat animals that have been tortured and killed in factory farms, and you have a bunch of a really great justifications for that. QED. As a vegetarian I feel that bringing out this argument (implying that a particular person is hypocritical -- and yes, I understand the societally-approved point), in response to a discussion on copyright patents, is below the standard of discussion I expect from HN. In general this discussion seems to include a lot of "no it isn't" / "yes it is" type bickering without much substance, and to be honest I blame the original article, which was content-free. Up above we have people arguing for the abolition of all intellectual property, and others claiming that mob rule is the basis for democracy. I don't see why the issue is such a binary one. Clearly the patent system needs reform. It's not at all clear that it needs to disappear entirely.

wazoox 16y ago

Will of the people, does that ring any bell? I'm pretty much sure that's what "democracy" means. Notice that I don't pretend that the public opinion can't or shouldn't change. It did in the past, about slavery, colonialism, women rights, and many other matters. However I insist on the fact that after several decades of propaganda, legal battles and laws, the public still is unconvinced.

jawee 16y ago

¨...a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest¨ -Thoreau, Civil Disobedience