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L-C

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Posts posted by L-C

  1. Dan, what about necessity? Should we use more force than is necessary to secure our safety in a non-sacrificial way?

    What if, for example, the similar results could be reached with a higher CIA budget instead of torture. How do you weigh that cost against the spectre of putting that kind of tool in the hands of the government?

  2. If they started working in a factory and didn't like it, then why not quit? There was clearly some compelling reason that drew the workers in AND kept them working in the factories. So clearly life in the factory was an improvement over the farm life they came from.

    It's not about how much the "capitalist" has given, but how much he has left. Anything above nothing is too much.

  3. When someone cheats on you, they are saying that you are no longer their highest value. If they did not tell you this before they cheated on you, they are being dishonest.

    More than dishonest. Lying and scamming.

    Every moment they are with you, they are living a lie.

    I would say they're making YOU live a lie, through lying.

  4. Thomas, why didn't you solve your problem without welfare?

    Does it make sense to vilify something when it helped you in your life?

    If it weren't for welfare, people on welfare would be self-sufficient without welfare. Do you see how?

    As for your second question: Yes. Thomas only reclaimed what was rightfully his to begin with. He did not have a say in the creation of this system. It did not help him. The potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars (even millions, I don't know what he makes) he'd have without taxes would've helped him.

  5. but welfare can't do anything to anyone can it?

    Many people would have been able to find jobs if it weren't for welfare. As you know, welfare destroys jobs.

    The system here in Sweden also discourages finding work. It is not allowed to accept a part-time job and recieve only half of the welfare check. It's all or nothing. Therefore, because part-time jobs can't support your living (due to taxes, which are used to fund...?) you have to go full welfare.

    Voter factory.

  6. Look, you want ethical dilemmas reagrding choices that determine whether a person lives or dies, look up medical literature, rescue procedures and other such emergencies. How many people die for lack of transpalnt organs? Who decides who gets what organs and how could such decisions be made differently? Why invent unlikely, implausisible scenarios when reality, as susual, serves well enough?

    Now we're talking.

  7. From your first link: "Mr. D., a Gothenburg multiple sclerosis patient, was prescribed a new drug. His doctor's request was denied because the drug was 33 percent more expensive than the older medicine. Mr. D. offered to pay for the medicine himself but was prevented from doing so. The bureaucrats said it would set a bad precedent and lead to unequal access to medicine."

    There you go. His paying for his own care would not cause any harm, but quite the opposite. Yet the government would forcibly prevent this. Egalitarianism. Equal share for everyone, even if net destruction of human lives is the price.

    I've said it numerous times before and I'll say it again: altruism is not ultimately about redistribution, but annihilation. Hell, in many cases it's not even partially about redistribution. Swedish schools will actively deny gifted children competent education in the name of equality, even when they themselves would benefit from increased production and thus tax revenue.

    Pure nihilism.

  8. You are on a runaway bus, with no way to stop. As the bus approaches an intersection, you see 2 groups of people (unmoving and oblivious). The first group, on the left, has 3 people, the second, on the right, has 2. It appears that if you shift the wheel either way (left or right), you will kill that group, leaving the other unharmed. If, however, you do not touch the wheel, both groups will die. What do you do?

    Without any details regarding these people, the rhetorical question is thus: Will one person live or die?

    Also, D'kian and kainscalia, I find your replies mocking. If you think the dilemma is absurd, then dismiss it and explain why. Rewriting it is tantamount to spam.

  9. I fail to see how lying to a bunch of savages in order to get them to release two hostages peacefully is somehow not worth it.

    You get more of what you sponsor. As a consumer, and as a country. Bargaining with savages signals acceptance of their actions and their nature.

    Edit: That does not mean people should expect the support of their government if they willingly travel to places such as NK. That is idiotic.

  10. This set the scene for the disgusting doctrine I remember from students in the early 70's, that Capitalism was useful, but immoral, while the most perfectly humane system, Marxism, unfortunately didn't work in practice.

    One would then wonder to what end Capitalism was immoral when it was constructive, and in what manner Marxism was humane when it failed.

    Altruism: the morality, not primarily of redistribution but of destruction.

  11. Therefore, relaxation is NOT being productive.

    Case closed! :P

    It's still a moot point. You can't be productive without rest, so it doesn't matter whether resting has the adjective "productive" attached to it. It's part of the same cycle.

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