4 ms·

>Two wrongs do not make a right On its face this looks like a neutral ethical stance, doesn't it? Behind the mask it's just a thinly-veiled defense of powerfu

>Two wrongs do not make a right On its face this looks like a neutral ethical stance, doesn't it? Behind the mask it's just a thinly-veiled defense of powerful corporate interests. Those are the parties who (in our modern political system) decide what "right" means, when it really counts. They make the rules. Predictably the rulebook, if read carefully (congratulations), favors their interests. They didn't leave any "holes" for us. That teaches us about power. It doesn't make it right.

thfuran 4y ago
A government that doesn't even attempt to uphold its own laws is not likely to work out better in practice for the average citizen.
- schiffern 4y ago
  That's the beauty of dividing up the structures protecting corporate power: everyone has someone else to blame. "One hand washes the other." The executive branch can blame the congress, like you just did. Congress can blame the corporations, because they'll fund a rival candidate if they do anything to offend their interests. Corporations can (and do) blame others, but in our system they don't really need to. Everything corporations do is moral by definition, because they always seek the economic optimum. Don't look into it, I'm sure it's fine. - Power always tries to fashion for itself a perfect suit of legitimizing armor, without any gaps. You've been describing some of the pieces. The job of dissidents (and yes hackers) is to find holes in that armor, and if necessary poke new ones. Dissent created the modern world. Every citizen owes an enormous debt to past (and future) dissidents, even if we don't personally identify as one. A society without dissent is not likely to work out better in practice for the average citizen. We'd better make room for it.
  - thfuran 4y ago
    >The executive branch can blame the congress, like you just did. Yes, because Congress is at fault. Dissent is fine, but it is at best unproductive and more probably counterproductive if it is misdirected. If the laws are bad, it is unequivocally the legislature's fault.
    - schiffern 4y ago
      >Yes, because Congress is at fault. ... If the laws are bad, it is unequivocally the legislature's fault. Congress is only operating under the constraints of voters and corporations. Just try to be the proverbial "good Congressperson" and see how fast you get voted out in favor of a well-funded rival appearing from nowhere. The same is true of the CEO of Exxon, incidentally. You could magically swap the head of Greenpeace in there, but that person will still be constrained by the obligation to shareholders (among other things, via the threat of removal). It's not the individual people at fault, the problem is the emergent behavior of the system itself. You can't fix it by swapping out "bad" people for "good" people. It doesn't work. >Dissent is fine, but it is at best unproductive I don't think the civil rights movement was unproductive.

thfuran 4y ago

A government that doesn't even attempt to uphold its own laws is not likely to work out better in practice for the average citizen.

schiffern 4y ago
That's the beauty of dividing up the structures protecting corporate power: everyone has someone else to blame. "One hand washes the other." The executive branch can blame the congress, like you just did. Congress can blame the corporations, because they'll fund a rival candidate if they do anything to offend their interests. Corporations can (and do) blame others, but in our system they don't really need to. Everything corporations do is moral by definition, because they always seek the economic optimum. Don't look into it, I'm sure it's fine. - Power always tries to fashion for itself a perfect suit of legitimizing armor, without any gaps. You've been describing some of the pieces. The job of dissidents (and yes hackers) is to find holes in that armor, and if necessary poke new ones. Dissent created the modern world. Every citizen owes an enormous debt to past (and future) dissidents, even if we don't personally identify as one. A society without dissent is not likely to work out better in practice for the average citizen. We'd better make room for it.
- thfuran 4y ago
  >The executive branch can blame the congress, like you just did. Yes, because Congress is at fault. Dissent is fine, but it is at best unproductive and more probably counterproductive if it is misdirected. If the laws are bad, it is unequivocally the legislature's fault.
  - schiffern 4y ago
    >Yes, because Congress is at fault. ... If the laws are bad, it is unequivocally the legislature's fault. Congress is only operating under the constraints of voters and corporations. Just try to be the proverbial "good Congressperson" and see how fast you get voted out in favor of a well-funded rival appearing from nowhere. The same is true of the CEO of Exxon, incidentally. You could magically swap the head of Greenpeace in there, but that person will still be constrained by the obligation to shareholders (among other things, via the threat of removal). It's not the individual people at fault, the problem is the emergent behavior of the system itself. You can't fix it by swapping out "bad" people for "good" people. It doesn't work. >Dissent is fine, but it is at best unproductive I don't think the civil rights movement was unproductive.