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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 26, 2022

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You want to enjoy the privileges of membership in a tribe or nation without having to bear the associated responsibilities.

Whereas what the nation offers is all responsibility and privileges, if any, revokable upon the whim of the state. "Ask not what your country can do for you...."

Whereas what the nation offers is all responsibility and privileges.

Yes. We live in a society. That is what a society is.

  • -11

Don't fuck with my punctuation and represent it as a direct quote.

Are you saying that I misquoted you?

Are you saying that I misrepresented your meaning?

Go ahead clarify if you like.

Are you saying that I misquoted you?

Indeed you did. You cut my sentence in half and replaced the "," with a "."

Are you saying that I misrepresented your meaning?

Indeed you did. The gist of my meaning is the nation is offering responsibility without privileges (or limited and revokable ones).

Responsibilities and privileges are the same phenomenon, just in opposite directions. The meaning of your comment was unchanged.

Responsibilities and privileges are the same phenomenon, just in opposite directions.

Even if that were true -- and I do not believe it is -- the direction is important. Receiving a windfall and being robbed are, after all, the same phenomenon just in opposite directions.

Even if that were true...

It is true, privilege is just another word for responsibility that someone else owes you. And while I understand why you in particular would like to deny it, they are inseparable.

As I said, the direction is important. A nation (or any community really) loves to impose responsibilities on its members, but if anyone wants anything from the nation, they go all Hobbes and say they are owed nothing but the existence of the nation between themselves and the state of nature (and as with Hobbes, the nation reserves the right to revoke that and instead make the member the forefront of that particular bulwark, for the benefits of the leaders)