From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Sat Feb 01 2003 - 00:05:13 MST
Alex writes
> [quote from: Lee on 2003-01-20 at 18:44:32]
> What I have always wondered about is a Kantian take on
> all this: what if everyone took to the streets to make
> their voices and views on issues heard? What if all
> the racists in the U.S., for example, marched to support
> their right to their own beliefs?
>
>
> It would be a very colorful and newsworthy weekend. Not *everyone* would
> be out on the streets, since some people lack clearly defined beliefs...
Well, focusing on my first question rather than my second,
let's suppose that everyone who had strong beliefs regularly
took to the streets to make their point. Aren't we talking
about perhaps ten or fifteen percent of the population?
> After a few days of this holiday-come-riot, everyone would end up detained,
> hospitalized, or hungry and thirsty (since the shopkeepers would presumably
> also mostly be out there demonstrating).
This probably, if just the racists chose to demonstrate. I still
think that if everyone acted as do the self-anointed, utter chaos
would result.
> We would all definitely think we knew which meme had the greatest numbers on
> its side, and we probably would all continue to disagree with each other.
>
> I would obtain a videocam and tape the whole thing during occasional breaks
> from the lab. I would do my best to convince the people I was taping that
> getting naked on camera would maximize the spread of their pet memes.
>
> Kantian question answered.
;-) Well, I contend that "marching" to make your point
is about as uncooperative thing as you can do in a
democratic country. The only thing more stupid yet
exactly equally non-cooperative is "general strike".
Lee
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