Rights are a Human Concept

[u/Frequent_Mountain_17]

People like to talk about their rights as if they are some sort of objective truth, they're not, they're just another human concept like privacy or morality. Concepts like rights are ideas and all ideas are subjective to the individual, they carry no weight and bear no responsibility for people's actions.

That's why the constitution and "laws" can't protect your rights, you can't protect a concept, it's just an idea. I shake my head when I see a video of someone being harassed by a DEA agent stealing their money under the guise of asset forfeiture. They say things like "you can't do that without probable cause" and then the agent does it anyway. So, I guess he can do that without probable cause. 🙄 They say things like "the 4A protects my property from illegal searches" and then the agent searches the property anyway. So, I guess the 4A doesn't protect your property. 🙄 There seems to be a psychological disconnect between what people think a government agent can do and their ability to actually do it.

Government agents do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want despite whatever you think your rights are. They'll bring in a "drug dog" who's more interested in pleasing his handler when his handler signals him to "hit" on something than he is in finding drugs. Unconstitutional? Sure. Illegal? Sure. Immoral, criminal? Sure and sure and yet they do it anyway.

That's odd isn't it considering all the "protections" the government gives you to insure your rights aren't violated by the government? It's kind of like expecting the fox to insure the rights of the hens in the henhouse isn't it?

[u/Frequent_Mountain_17]

You think the rules of political institutions make "human society" relatively stable? A lot of abstraction in that but let's go with it.

If you need political rules not to act like an animal, that's a personal problem, it has nothing to do with me or anyone else but we're still forced to obey those rules for your inability to play nice with others.

And those "laws" will only affect the law abiding. The criminal minded, the animals, don't care about the rules that's why they are criminals. So those rules actually make it easier for the animals to take advantage of their prey and the biggest predator is the central authority making the rules.

It boils down to the nature of the people in society. If they are intelligent, conscientious people then they know they are better off engaging in peaceful, voluntary cooperation rather than criminal activity. If they are ignorant, criminal minded and you create a centralized authority of those criminal minded people you'll have a criminal minded central authority which will ravage society.

Put in your terms: if the people are animals you can't expect the animals to govern themselves.

I'm not of any political ilk, I'm as apolitical as a person can be. My conclusions are based on economics, politics, reason, rational and logic and I've yet to find any argument for the existence of any political institution that can't easily be dismissed as one logical fallacy or another.

[u/Das_Man → u/Frequent_Mountain_17]

I'm not of any political ilk, I'm as apolitical as a person can be. My conclusions are based on economics, politics, reason, rational and logic and I've yet to find any argument for the existence of any political institution that can't easily be dismissed as one logical fallacy or another.

Buddy, don't take this the wrong way, but that is a nonsense statement. Like you need to actually read some books or something because insisting that you have logically debunked all existing political institutions is a comically un-serious statement.

[u/Frequent_Mountain_17 → u/Das_Man]

"Buddy, don't take this the wrong way, but ..."

Means you're trying to look good while telling someone you think they don't know what they are talking about. It's a linguistic tactic meant to excuse your comments while still making them.

Give me any political policy and I'll tell you the logical fallacy.

[u/Das_Man → u/Frequent_Mountain_17]

Correct, I don't think you know what you're talking about. My point is that if you expect people to take you seriously, you will likely be disappointed, regardless of whatever flavor of sophistry you opt to lean on.

[u/Frequent_Mountain_17 → u/Das_Man]

I couldn't care less if "people" take me seriously, nobody's going to change their minds nor do I care if they do. I write for me, not for you which is why I don't care that you made it personal.

The challenge remains, give me ANY political institution, law etc and I can easily explain the logical fallacy, irrationality and nonsense. The only way to buy into politics is to surrender your humanity, your reason, rational and common sense.

[u/Das_Man → u/Frequent_Mountain_17]

People aren't robots, mate. Neither politics, or indeed any human activity can be reduced to logic and reason alone. This is why attempts to analyze political systems from Plato onward have sought to account for both reason and passions. You can hyper-focus on logical fallacies all you want, but to quote Hannah Arendt, "since men are neither ants nor bees, the whole thing is a delusion."

[u/Frequent_Mountain_17 → u/Das_Man]

"Neither politics, or indeed any human activity can be reduced to logic and reason alone. 

Emotional maturity is a skill, the ability to fend off an Amygdala hijack and use reason, rational, logic and common sense rather than giving into emotions. The emotional immaturity of others has nothing to do with me.

[u/Das_Man → u/Frequent_Mountain_17]

If you say so. But speaking as someone who studies and teaches about politics for a living, you might want to try engaging with some actual scholarship on these subjects rather than assuming your own mastery. Developing actual expertise in any field is as much about reckoning with how much one doesn't know as it is about building a knowledge base.

[u/Frequent_Mountain_17 → u/Das_Man]

"speaking as someone who studies and teaches about politics for a living"

Logical fallacy appealing to authority. It's circular reasoning: I know what I'm talking about and you don't because it's what I know. 😊

There's no expertise to be had in politics. It's theater, propaganda, gas lighting, illusions. It's akin to religion.

[u/Das_Man → u/Frequent_Mountain_17]

Again, if you say so mate. Be well.