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When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a m
by shrubble 6y ago
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.
Frédéric Bastiat
- MRantiHATE 6y agoAre you referring to the fact that the Sackler family is all Jewish? Please cool it with the anti-semitism.
- metaloqui 6y agoHow did you manage to connect that to antisemitism?
- zentiggr 6y agoLooks trolly.
- justwalt 6y agoI think it’s an attempt to quote American Psycho, although it’s slightly wrong.
- MRantiHATE 6y agoWhat other "groups" are the Sacklers a member of?
- JumpCrisscross 6y ago> What other "groups" are the Sacklers a member of? I took it to be a criticism of American culture.
- rscho 6y agoRich people. They come in all shape and size.
- spaceprison 6y agoThe fact that they may be of Jewish heritage and are being criticised doesn't make the quote anti-semitic. This family made billions as opium dealers whose impact has been seen nationwide. But since it was 'just business' they get to turn a blind eye to the impact. I understood the quote to be a comment on the idea that once morality free enrichment becomes codified into law what would seem to be morally 'wrong' is justified and even looks 'good' since what they are doing is legal.
- bluntfang 6y agoI've been thinking about this a lot, and really believe America was founded on "breaking the rules" and has had really great successes, but really awful consequences. Specific to the pandemic, no one wants to wear a mask. We've been conditioned to believe that breaking the rules (ie disruption) is a good way to move forward. Outside the pandemic, we see oil companies and other manufactures move their operations overseas to countries without power or understanding that the earth is being pillaged, or that the big company is there because they don't have modern labor laws or laws that protect their environment. Hell, the amount of beer cans on the side of the road in my suburban neighborhood and surrounding parks areas indicates that there's a portion of the population that can't handle not drinking and driving. I wonder if this is specific to America/capitalism, but I don't really have a frame of reference for other cultures that champion values like community over the individual, following the rules, etc.
- Dirlewanger 6y agoInteresting take. I've always held that Americans only care about those that they can see from the edge of their property line (neighbors and whatnot). Everyone else? Fuck em. Distrust of all forms of government is practically bred into us, and it shows at all levels. Corporations have pretty much filled that power vacuum.
- ryandrake 6y agoPlus, we Americans embrace or at least excuse this corporate power. Elected government tries to control what we can say online? Censorship! Overreach! Unaccountable Facebook and Twitter try to control what we say online? Yes, please! No problem! If you don't like it, leave! It's not censorship because corporate power is doing it rather than government power!
- cooljacob204 6y agoWhile I somewhat agree with the sentiment, there is a big difference between our government which has the power to take away our rights and a corporation censoring us.
- murbard2 6y agoBastiat is specifically referring to rent seeking, occupational licensing, protectionism, etc. The Bastiat quote is on point if your criticism of Purdue Pharma is that it profited from the medical licensing laws and drug prohibition laws that unfairly proscribes teenagers from buying madak cigarettes on the free market. If the criticism is merely that they made money selling addictive drugs, this really isn't what the quote is about.
- kaesar14 6y agoDoes it matter what the original intention of the quote is, if it perfectly captures the spirit of the current injustice?
- Retric 6y agoa legal system that authorizes it They did not make billions from selling yet another opioid of which there are dozens available cheaply. They made billions by subverting the medical system largely though completely legal means. Essentially they sold yet another synthetic street drug through Doctors rather than on street corners. And this worked because they jumped through the correct hoops and advertised in the correct manner.
- Nasrudith 6y agoThat mischaracterizes street drugs in production quality, goal, and financial model. Viagra is closer to the model of endorsed recreational usage. If they went and produced 'Oxycotin gets you high and it is legal!' like a head shop the operation would have not reached multimillion dollar size before it got cracked down. Jumping through the hoops is the part the system understands as important though. Those two differences although irrelevant to end outcome being bad and condemnable are pretty damn big distinctions akin to claiming you "unleashed a savage wolf to attack unsuspecting children" when you sold out a pit bull puppy who was sourced from a dog fighting ring and the dog mauled a kid who yanked on his tail.
- Retric 6y agoOxyContin was a massive street drug as it is and was literally sold on the street in massive quantities. The additional legal channel for the identical substance from the same manufacturer is both a legal and illegal at the same time. Which is why Bastiat‘s quote is so interesting in this context.