JimC wrote:
However, to a degree, we have been quibbling over semantics. Essentially, most of us in this thread accept a certain amount more control by an elected government over individuals than you do, seat belts and helmets being the classic examples. However, the whole thing is on a spectrum; I've said several times that it is important to minimise the interference of private choices by governments, but not by an ideological position, instead on pragmatic grounds in a case-by-case process.
I don't disagree that we "accept" things like this, but that doesn't address the philosophical and ethical questions involved. The Jews "accepted" being rounded up and put on trains based on the lies of the Nazis, only to find themselves soaping up with stone soap right before the Zyklon B was dropped in.
If we don't challenge and question the authority of government to rule our lives, we get the sort of totalitarianism that we deserve.
What you're saying is that we should just be good proletarians and accept that the government knows what's best for us and not question the wisdom of our masters. I find that sort of mindset to be quite alarming and very, very sad.
"Seth is Grandmaster Zen Troll who trains his victims to troll themselves every time they think of him" Robert_S
"All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
"Those who support denying anyone the right to keep and bear arms for personal defense are fully complicit in every crime that might have been prevented had the victim been effectively armed." Seth
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