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Comment by stackghost

5 days ago

The argument is that we should only obey the rule of law with counterparties who reciprocate, rather than voluntarily hamstring ourselves for no benefit other than moral purity.

right, damn pesky morals are always hamstringing human progress.

my thinking is that once you start selectively applying rule of law to "good guys" and "bad guys" (or whatever criteria you pick), you have lost something really important. fingers crossed no one ever alters the criteria such that you fall on the "wrong" side!

  • >my thinking is that once you start selectively applying rule of law to "good guys" and "bad guys" (or whatever criteria you pick),

    This is how the world already works. We do not inhabit an egalitarian utopia. There quite literally are bad guys.

    When you treat everyone like good guys, you end up with Donald Trump as the president instead of in jail.

    • i did not expect people to advocate for ignoring licenses, and further, arguing that the rule of law should be selectively applied. but, i am too old to expend energy trying to convince people that the rule of law loses all meaning if it is selectively applied.

      so, sure, fuck licenses. if someone pisses you off, just say they were born in the wrong country and steal their shit. thankfully i am retiring soon, so i probably wont see the winners of this race to the bottom.

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