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As predicted, some unrelated critique on policing in general that has nothing to do with what we're talking about... The problem with your line of reasoning is

As predicted, some unrelated critique on policing in general that has nothing to do with what we're talking about... The problem with your line of reasoning is that you really have a problem with government abuse and that you're looking for anything that could possibly add to government abuse even in the smallest of manners. There's no scalar to your concept of abusive systems, just the fact that any system that could be used for government abuse is bad. It leaves out the intent and capabilities of the government to engage in any kind of abuse. If the government wanted to silence you then it would silence you like they would in any authoritarian nation: showing up to your front door, putting a bag over your head, and taking you away. They don't need any advanced technology to do so. Technologies are not the main cause authoritarianism. People are the main cause. Technologies can facilitate authoritarianism or they can facilitate liberal democratic republics. Can a system of warranted entry on private property be abused so that police can enter your house in an unjust manner? Of course! But the presence of a system of warranted entry on private property does not correlate to the authoritarian government.

BurningFrog 4y ago
This is mostly a critique of an imagined version of my state of mind. Such discussions are pointless to me.
- williamcotton 4y ago
  Eh, not really... this is the only paragraph where imagining your "state of mind" might come into play: The problem with your line of reasoning is that you really have a problem with government abuse and that you're looking for anything that could possibly add to government abuse even in the smallest of manners. There's no scalar to your concept of abusive systems, just the fact that any system that could be used for government abuse is bad. But I'm not imagining anything because you've made it clear that your problem all along was with government abuse. It's also clear that you're looking for anything that could possibly add to government abuse even in the smallest manners because you don't talk about scale or likelihood, just a simple binary of "could be used for government abuse" or not. I'm just logically filling in the blanks based on our interaction to come up with how you reasoned your way through all of this. And I just went back and realized you started talking about personal cars and not taxis... what kind of cop is going to get mad at you and then... wait for you to get a cab, follow you, and then make your car pull over... and then what? Why are they doing this? Why would anyone do this? I mean, what system is more likely to be abused, one where cops can get a warrant to kick your door down or one where cops can make autonomous taxis pull safely over to the side? Stop being silly!

BurningFrog 4y ago

This is mostly a critique of an imagined version of my state of mind. Such discussions are pointless to me.

williamcotton 4y ago
Eh, not really... this is the only paragraph where imagining your "state of mind" might come into play: The problem with your line of reasoning is that you really have a problem with government abuse and that you're looking for anything that could possibly add to government abuse even in the smallest of manners. There's no scalar to your concept of abusive systems, just the fact that any system that could be used for government abuse is bad. But I'm not imagining anything because you've made it clear that your problem all along was with government abuse. It's also clear that you're looking for anything that could possibly add to government abuse even in the smallest manners because you don't talk about scale or likelihood, just a simple binary of "could be used for government abuse" or not. I'm just logically filling in the blanks based on our interaction to come up with how you reasoned your way through all of this. And I just went back and realized you started talking about personal cars and not taxis... what kind of cop is going to get mad at you and then... wait for you to get a cab, follow you, and then make your car pull over... and then what? Why are they doing this? Why would anyone do this? I mean, what system is more likely to be abused, one where cops can get a warrant to kick your door down or one where cops can make autonomous taxis pull safely over to the side? Stop being silly!