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I fully understand and respect why people want to protect their rights. But often times I think people are too strong in fighting to protect their rights. It'

by canistr 15y ago

I fully understand and respect why people want to protect their rights. But often times I think people are too strong in fighting to protect their rights. It's as though reducing/eliminating the _minor_ inconvenience of a false positive is more important than stopping/preventing a false negative.

anigbrowl 15y ago
Well, a lot of people consider that it is indeed more important. You've surely heard the notion that it's better for ten guilty persons to go free than for one innocent person to be convicted; this is not merely defense-lawyer rhetoric, but was enunciated as a basic principle of criminal justice by Sir William Blackstone (widely considered the architect of the common law system which underpins the anglophone legal tradition).
mindcrime 15y ago
But often times I think people are too strong in fighting to protect their rights. I'm sorry, but I can't even parse that into anything that makes sense. How could you ever fight too hard to protect your rights?!?? I mean, what could possibly be more important than protecting our innate, individual rights? Maybe it's just me, but in my world-view, the whole "give me liberty or give me death" thing is not just a tagline. The only reason I can see for not fighting tooth-and-nail to defend your rights at any particular moment in time, is if you're faced with overwhelming force to the point that trying to defend yourself would amount to suicide, and you're willing to exercise discretion and "live to fight another day" when the odds may be more favorable. But that's a strategic decision, not abdication of your rights...
- anigbrowl 15y ago
  I mean, what could possibly be more important than protecting our innate, individual rights? Lots of things. If you are on a lifeboat and are terribly paranoid and aggressive, then the other passengers may be quite justified in tossing you into the water. The existence and general primacy of individual rights does not negate the existence of collective rights; see an overview of these issues going back to Thomas Jefferson at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Constitution_is_not_a_suicide_pact http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Constitution_is_not_a_suici...

by canistr 15y ago

anigbrowl 15y ago

Well, a lot of people consider that it is indeed more important. You've surely heard the notion that it's better for ten guilty persons to go free than for one innocent person to be convicted; this is not merely defense-lawyer rhetoric, but was enunciated as a basic principle of criminal justice by Sir William Blackstone (widely considered the architect of the common law system which underpins the anglophone legal tradition).

mindcrime 15y ago

But often times I think people are too strong in fighting to protect their rights. I'm sorry, but I can't even parse that into anything that makes sense. How could you ever fight too hard to protect your rights?!?? I mean, what could possibly be more important than protecting our innate, individual rights? Maybe it's just me, but in my world-view, the whole "give me liberty or give me death" thing is not just a tagline. The only reason I can see for not fighting tooth-and-nail to defend your rights at any particular moment in time, is if you're faced with overwhelming force to the point that trying to defend yourself would amount to suicide, and you're willing to exercise discretion and "live to fight another day" when the odds may be more favorable. But that's a strategic decision, not abdication of your rights...

anigbrowl 15y ago
I mean, what could possibly be more important than protecting our innate, individual rights? Lots of things. If you are on a lifeboat and are terribly paranoid and aggressive, then the other passengers may be quite justified in tossing you into the water. The existence and general primacy of individual rights does not negate the existence of collective rights; see an overview of these issues going back to Thomas Jefferson at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Constitution_is_not_a_suicide_pact http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Constitution_is_not_a_suici...