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Valentino Mancini has been coming to your grocery store and he's offered to protect you against fire hazards. He made such a compelling offer you couldn't refus
by murbard2 12y ago
Valentino Mancini has been coming to your grocery store and he's offered to protect you against fire hazards. He made such a compelling offer you couldn't refuse it, and you've been paying him off for years.
Valentino protects you, he's been looking out for you. Like when they tried to build a K-Mart in the neighborhood, and the developer had an unfortunate accident.
But here's the thing, Valentino's consigliere has convinced him to let in a new grocer in the neighborhood, and business hasn't been that good since.
Is it ethical for you to go see Valentino and complain that, since you've been paying him off for years, he should kick that new grocer out of the neighborhood?
- freehunter 12y agoOh right, because the government is like the Mafia. Yeah that whole anarchy thing totally works.
- murbard2 12y agoThe government is different from the Mafia in many ways, and similar in other ways. Analogies are helpful as a source of moral intuition. What matters in this example is that two wrongs don't make a right. If it's morally wrong to prevent immigrants from finding jobs in the US, then the fact that the parent has paid taxes is irrelevant. Using it to justify preventing immigrants from getting jobs in the country is begging the question.