4 ms·

I think where you're going off the rails is with the idea of "social predators" at all. I mean, there are no bandits. A right wing racist is just a part of so

I think where you're going off the rails is with the idea of "social predators" at all. I mean, there are no bandits. A right wing racist is just a part of society, with the freedom and the right to express his/her opinion and associate with those whom s/he pleases. Where is the "banditry" in that? The person opposed to the right wing racist is just a part of society, with the freedom and the right to express his/her opinion and associate with those whom s/he pleases. Where is the "banditry" in that? Maybe it would be helpful if you could outline why you believe those exercising, say, Constitutional freedoms in the US, are "bandits" or "social predators", as opposed to being just regular members of society acting in the fashion their Constitution intended?

ben_w 4y ago
I think you're taking the term "bandit" too literally; I'm reading it as a metaphor, just like the use of the word "piracy" for "copyright infringement" — even though there are going to be some people who will look for the loud and open, and decide to literally rob them, I see the issues discussed in the post as being nothing to do with that dollar-money kind of thing, and all to with the loss of social capital. And now I write that, I realise that what is here called "bandit" used to be called "troll" back in the late 90s. And before the internet, "antisocial youths loitering in malls". Also, https://xkcd.com/677 https://xkcd.com/677 comes to mind.