Responsible Government Must Graduate Citizens Through a Philosophical Rite of Passage

[Daktoria]

...so there's a couple problems I want to bring up here:

One, many people are mature beyond their years, and others never grow up. The idea of quantifying maturity according to age is prejudiced.

Two, responsible citizens shouldn't be taken for granted by irresponsible citizens.

Three, responsible citizens shouldn't be vulnerable to fellow responsible citizens engaging in a bystander effect against civic responsibility.

When emergencies happen, they're only fixed because responsible citizens fix them. Likewise, some irresponsible citizens might not exercise due diligence to prevent emergencies, and other responsible citizens might say that it's not their problem.

In order to avoid these three problems, responsible government must graduate citizens through a philosophical rite of passage before allowing them access to public goods or social programs or even exposing them to the public sphere. Otherwise:

One, those citizens will force everyone around to assume the risk of irresponsibility, and

Two, those citizens will be forced to assume the risk of everyone's irresponsibility around.

Now the details of this rite of passage might be up for debate, but the point is a rite of passage has to be graduated through.

 

[daveman]

Or...OR...people could just raise their kids right.

 

[dilloduck]

requiring mature and responsible behavior would be a formidable task. We can barely teach people to be honest.

 

[Daktoria]

Or...OR...people could just raise their kids right.

Who's going to make them?

 

[Unkotare]

A "rite of passage"? Like they have to go out and kill a lion with their bare hands or something?

 

[daveman]

Or...OR...people could just raise their kids right.

Who's going to make them?

Nobody.

It's called "freedom". We still do that here in America. At least for the moment.

Government is NOT the answer to every problem.

 

[Unkotare]

Or...OR...people could just raise their kids right.

Who's going to make them?

Who's going to make kids? I'm surprised no one has explained this to you before...


You see Johnny, when a man and a woman love each other, they sometimes buy a fifth of Jack and rent a cheap motel room at an hourly rate. Then, something magical happens, and...well...maybe you should ask your parents to explain the rest.

 

[Unkotare]

requiring mature and responsible behavior would be a formidable task. We can barely teach people to be honest.

Of course we can! Where do you think all those honest politicians come from?

 

[dilloduck]

and then there's the problem of making silk purses outta hog ears.

 

[Daktoria]

requiring mature and responsible behavior would be a formidable task. We can barely teach people to be honest.

I'm not sure it's that difficult today.

We can show people the power of reliable idealism from living in a complex society. Those who aren't honest are making things difficult for everyone around them

Likewise, we can show people how to check for others being dishonest by teaching them philosophical premises like the necessity-contingency, fact-value, and is-ought distinctions. People need to understand that they're being disrespected when they're forced to assume the risk of unreliability.

 

[Daktoria]

Or...OR...people could just raise their kids right.

Who's going to make them?

Nobody.

It's called "freedom". We still do that here in America. At least for the moment.

Government is NOT the answer to every problem.

I'm not sure what's free about forcing children to assume the risk of being born into negligent and dysfunctional households.

I'm also not sure what's free about forcing children to assume the risk of their peers being born into them either.

One way other another, children aren't guaranteed to learn right from wrong. That can lead to them not standing up for themselves, or being stood on top of by others.

 

[dilloduck]

Who's going to make them?

Nobody.

It's called "freedom". We still do that here in America. At least for the moment.

Government is NOT the answer to every problem.

I'm not sure what's free about forcing children to assume the risk of being born into negligent and dysfunctional households.

I'm also not sure what's free about forcing children to assume the risk of their peers being born into them either.

One way other another, children aren't guaranteed to learn right from wrong. That can lead to them not standing up for themselves, or being stood on top of by others.

No one is guaranteed anything. These days just being born is iffy.

 

[daveman]

Who's going to make them?

Nobody.

It's called "freedom". We still do that here in America. At least for the moment.

Government is NOT the answer to every problem.

I'm not sure what's free about forcing children to assume the risk of being born into negligent and dysfunctional households.

I'm also not sure what's free about forcing children to assume the risk of their peers being born into them either.

One way other another, children aren't guaranteed to learn right from wrong. That can lead to them not standing up for themselves, or being stood on top of by others.

Yeah. Every single time government has sought to interfere in people's lives to the extent you advocate, it's ended in lakes of blood.

Every. Single. Time.

 

[Daktoria]

Nobody.

It's called "freedom". We still do that here in America. At least for the moment.

Government is NOT the answer to every problem.

I'm not sure what's free about forcing children to assume the risk of being born into negligent and dysfunctional households.

I'm also not sure what's free about forcing children to assume the risk of their peers being born into them either.

One way other another, children aren't guaranteed to learn right from wrong. That can lead to them not standing up for themselves, or being stood on top of by others.

No one is guaranteed anything. These days just being born is iffy.

Well the rule of law says what ought to be, not what is.

 

[dilloduck]

I'm not sure what's free about forcing children to assume the risk of being born into negligent and dysfunctional households.

I'm also not sure what's free about forcing children to assume the risk of their peers being born into them either.

One way other another, children aren't guaranteed to learn right from wrong. That can lead to them not standing up for themselves, or being stood on top of by others.

No one is guaranteed anything. These days just being born is iffy.

Well the rule of law says what ought to be, not what is.

Our country would die.