Well, I don't mean that the pushing has to be really, really hard. But it does have to take some effort, because for any thing there is someone out there who will object, if objecting takes no work at all. I've seen one writer cry tears (metaphorically, but it did seem to have that level of emotional intensity) that the heroic entrepreneur had his hard-earned money taken by the evil tax man. Consider what that guy will object to... and as far as I can tell, he really does feel hurt. And God help us all if we have to worry about hurting the feelings of the white-power zealots...
As far as I can see, any reasonable solution comes down to the common-sense questions: How many people are hurt? How much are they hurt? How much work would have to be done to avoid the hurt? Does the thing we are attempting to restrict "have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value"?
(I don't know details of the disputes you're referencing, but I suspect from what you've said that getting the answers to these questions would support your case.)
I suppose that's a very utilitarian way to look at it. Maybe that's the difference in how we see things, I've long since given up the idea that the world cares about individuals, and I've come to suspect that even looking toward a caring world as an ideal is likely to cause more problems than it's worth. At the least, the idea that an individual has some sort of right to demand that the world be caring towards one's self seems to open the way for a great deal of exploitation under the guise of victimhood.
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Date: 2012-09-18 03:19 pm (UTC)As far as I can see, any reasonable solution comes down to the common-sense questions: How many people are hurt? How much are they hurt? How much work would have to be done to avoid the hurt? Does the thing we are attempting to restrict "have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value"?
(I don't know details of the disputes you're referencing, but I suspect from what you've said that getting the answers to these questions would support your case.)
I suppose that's a very utilitarian way to look at it. Maybe that's the difference in how we see things, I've long since given up the idea that the world cares about individuals, and I've come to suspect that even looking toward a caring world as an ideal is likely to cause more problems than it's worth. At the least, the idea that an individual has some sort of right to demand that the world be caring towards one's self seems to open the way for a great deal of exploitation under the guise of victimhood.