Mother, am I paranoid?
what I wonder is why you are not worried about fascism... totalitarianism? Why do you seem to fear the nature of the liberal totalitarianism... I share that... I suspect extremes in all directions.
I believe in balance and the true center. The true center is not midway between what people call liberal and conservative, left and right.
doesn't prisoner abuse... listen -- this country was founded on the idea that cruel and unusual punishment is against American Ideals. Was that a mistake? Didn't we benefit?
What is the value of trust? If torture is ok some will be tortured when they are innocent... it's statistics... and people are going to fear being falsely tortured, they will not want to get on your wrong side... the trust will be gone with the world.
Could we be allies right now with the British if during the Revolution or War of 1812 if we were famous for torturing the British soldiers... or they for torturing ours? Would we have forgotten that? Have we forgotten what Benadict Arnold means? No. Things like that can be remembered a loooong time, as well they should, as well they should. This trust is more valuable than the information people think they are getting by violating our moral codes.
Trust provides information, that's one of it's main characteristics. If people trust you they tell you things. That's really all there is to it. And besides... I don't want to be evil for "practical" reasons either. Just especially not when it's so impractical. We are here for thousands of years. We need to think ahead.
I believe in balance and the true center. The true center is not midway between what people call liberal and conservative, left and right.
doesn't prisoner abuse... listen -- this country was founded on the idea that cruel and unusual punishment is against American Ideals. Was that a mistake? Didn't we benefit?
What is the value of trust? If torture is ok some will be tortured when they are innocent... it's statistics... and people are going to fear being falsely tortured, they will not want to get on your wrong side... the trust will be gone with the world.
Could we be allies right now with the British if during the Revolution or War of 1812 if we were famous for torturing the British soldiers... or they for torturing ours? Would we have forgotten that? Have we forgotten what Benadict Arnold means? No. Things like that can be remembered a loooong time, as well they should, as well they should. This trust is more valuable than the information people think they are getting by violating our moral codes.
Trust provides information, that's one of it's main characteristics. If people trust you they tell you things. That's really all there is to it. And besides... I don't want to be evil for "practical" reasons either. Just especially not when it's so impractical. We are here for thousands of years. We need to think ahead.
posted by Pyrrho | 3:53 AM
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