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Culture War Roundup for the week of February 13, 2023

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Nick Offerman's as character is sitting on a tremendous amount of resources that could presumably be used to help others but him fencing it all off so that he can live in comparative luxury with his lover is heroism.

It was certainly portrayed that way, but it struck me as pretty horrific. They have an entire small town boarded off with all sorts of amenities, and they can't seem to share it with anyone. Even if you don't want to share, that's the perfect setup to get something good done--maybe man a radio tower, do some research into the disease, synthesize insulin, etc. Anyone who hangs up their coat at that point and says "I've done enough" is neglecting their duties towards humanity.

It was pretty well-established that tons of other people were dying because settlements were failing. People trecking between QZ's (or whatever they were called) and most dying on the way, QZ's failing, and so on. In this world giving housing to someone is often saving their life.

Researching the disease was the most ambitious option I mentioned--there are plenty of easier ways to help people which these guys also did not attempt.

As for what a small town has, well, probably not any scientific materials, but it will have plenty that can be traded for those materials. Again IDK if that would lead anywhere but to just do nothing while millions die around you is utterly grotesque. At the very least use a few pebbles from your mountains of spare time to relay radio messages.

It's just a show I just find it interesting.

Sure, that's why I'm talking about it too. I'm not laying awake all night seething about what more Bill and Frank could have done for the world, just find it fun to talk about.

Trade for science materials and do what? Find a scientist? How many people should he let in? Who can he trust?

Yeah pretty much. IDK how many people he should let in, but more than 0 (or 1 if you count Bill/Frank, I forget which is which). Joel isn't doing much for people but he also doesn't have nearly as good of a setup.

Is making insulin easy?

No, but if you're good and you have a lot of time you can do it. This article about it is pretty interesting and probably why I brought up that possibility. My (layman) understanding is that the hard part is creating the initial strain is really tough and requires some gene editing, but once the strain is created you can produce insulin pretty easily forever. So maybe the first step would be to track down an existing insulin factory, then fund expeditions there to recover the strain or at least the equipment.

I just rewatched the first episode and it sounds like they have the radio thing covered anyways, so idk what they should have done, but given their absurd prosperity I think morally a bigger effort to help out is required.

You don't think charity is a moral obligation?

This train of thought is pretty much copenhagen interpretation of ethics, and I 100% against it. Whoever survives in the apocalypse can spend their days however they want.

I'd argue that it's the opposite. The copenhagen interpretation of ethics would be to say "You're not interacting with all these other people so you have no obligation towards them."

If you're saying this is copenhagen because their moral obligations have changed due to external factors beyond their control, idk what to tell you. That is simply the nature of morality--your moral obligations are dependent to an extent on external circumstances. Pulling a trigger is highly immoral in some circumstances and morally necessary in others.