[Gllug] Editors

[Kieran Barry]

On Tue, 31 Jul 2001, Tom Gilbert wrote:

> * Mike Brodbelt (mike at coruscant.demon.co.uk) wrote:
> > Living in a free society requires responsibility from citizens - a
> > willingness to accept the consequences of their actions, and to accept
> > that it is their duty to discharge their own responsibilities, and not
> > the duty of society to nanny those who are unwilling or unable to take
> > responsibility for their own actions. 
> > 
> > If you want your children to be safe, then it is your job as a parent to
> > monitor their environment, and protect them from harm. It is not your
> > place to suggest that the rest of the society you live in should
> > sacrifice freedoms so that you don't have to bother putting in the
> > effort to look after your kids properly. The same goes for censorship,
> > and all the other "special cases". As Jefferson(?) said, the price of
> > freedom is eternal vigilance. If you are not happy with that, find a
> > dictatorship where the ruling caste has an ideology that matches your
> > own, and enjoy....
> 
> Your argument can also be taken to an extreme. 

This would be his claim that granting freedom requires responsibility?

>                                             After all, a totally free
> society is one where you are truly free to do what you want. 

Total freedom, of course, requires absolute responsibility.

>                                                        E.g. blow
> someone's head off because their loud hawiian shirt offends you, or
> steal someone's car because it looks nice or rape someone because they
> look nice. 

This shows responsibility how?

>          I would not want to live in such a society and I strongly
> believe that giving away some _small_ amount of personal freedom is
> justified when the benefit is safety, security and peace of mind.
> 
You should read the posts you reply to. Or is this a deliberate
Strawman? How you get Mike (good parenting creates a healthy society)
to be supporting the right to random murder boggles the mind.

> But it's pointless arguing, you feel what you feel :)

And you read what you read. Even if it isn't there.

Regards

Kieran


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