The huge step is the presumption that other people cannot simply be allowed to freely make their own decisions, and everything beyond that is simply a matter of how little or how much compulsion should be employed to get them to “choose” as one prefers instead.
As for the bulk of you response, I can very simply explain my view.
My position is that you should be seen to be entirely free to make your own choices, even if the choice you make is to rape me.
And of course, I too should be seen to be entirely free to make my own choices, including responding to the choice you’ve made in whatever way I see fit.
If each and all, or close enough as makes no meaningful difference, choose generally rationally, then the society will succeed. If not, then it will fail. It really is just that simple.
If, for whatever reason, that freedom is not ceded to each and all by each and all (or, again, close enough as makes no meaningful difference), then the society will inevitably follow the path back to institutionalized, hierarchical authoritarianism. It doesn’t matter how many well-meaning people work to see it limited - institutionalized authority rewards and thus effectively selects for those who are least constrained by morals, ethics, principles and empathy, and thus most willing and able to do whatever it takes to gain, hold and expand authority and the privilege it inherently grants, and even the tiniest opening will provide them with an opportunity they can and will exploit.
And as for the last bit, I’d simply rather invest my finite time and attention into reasoning through ideas on my own than into consuming the reasoning of others, particularly when it’s the case, as it all too often is, that I end up discovering that their reasoning has been tainted by their own authoritarian habits, presumptions or even ambitions.
No it’s really not.
The huge step is the presumption that other people cannot simply be allowed to freely make their own decisions, and everything beyond that is simply a matter of how little or how much compulsion should be employed to get them to “choose” as one prefers instead.
As for the bulk of you response, I can very simply explain my view.
My position is that you should be seen to be entirely free to make your own choices, even if the choice you make is to rape me.
And of course, I too should be seen to be entirely free to make my own choices, including responding to the choice you’ve made in whatever way I see fit.
If each and all, or close enough as makes no meaningful difference, choose generally rationally, then the society will succeed. If not, then it will fail. It really is just that simple.
If, for whatever reason, that freedom is not ceded to each and all by each and all (or, again, close enough as makes no meaningful difference), then the society will inevitably follow the path back to institutionalized, hierarchical authoritarianism. It doesn’t matter how many well-meaning people work to see it limited - institutionalized authority rewards and thus effectively selects for those who are least constrained by morals, ethics, principles and empathy, and thus most willing and able to do whatever it takes to gain, hold and expand authority and the privilege it inherently grants, and even the tiniest opening will provide them with an opportunity they can and will exploit.
And as for the last bit, I’d simply rather invest my finite time and attention into reasoning through ideas on my own than into consuming the reasoning of others, particularly when it’s the case, as it all too often is, that I end up discovering that their reasoning has been tainted by their own authoritarian habits, presumptions or even ambitions.
Thanks for the response.