On Jun 30, 2009, at 11:53 AM, Miles Jackson wrote:
> Shane Mage wrote:
>> And to the question whether if *you*, having done nothing at all,
>> were to be "beaten, arrested, tortured, convicted, and imprisoned
>> for terrorism" you--like everyone sane--would be right to protest
>> that you are the victim of injustice, you reply that "In fact, I do
>> deny that harsh treatment [ie., having done nothing at all, to be
>> beaten, arrested, tortured, convicted, and imprisoned for
>> terrorism] is always unjust."
>>
>> Do you really?
>>
>
> Yes. I don't know why that's so unfathomable. Doug jokes about
> who's going to be lined up against the wall and shot, come the revo;
> I can honestly think of cases in which that paramilitary tactic
> would be just. Harsh treatment, granted, but just.
>
Are you intentionally making yourself look like a total ass? Or that
"having done nothing at all, [you] were beaten, arrested, tortured,
convicted, and imprisoned for terrorism" you would consider it just
punishment? If so, there must be some really terrible crimes on your
conscience. Perhaps sympathizing with "antiimperialist" governments
that routinely carry out such "harsh treatment?"
>
> ...Is beating, arresting, and torturing people a just act? Well, it
> depends on the social context. I can give examples in which those
> behaviors are just...
And so can Cheney, and so could Mao-tse-tung, and so could
Torquemada. And you, and Cheney, and Mao-tse-tung, and Torquemada, by
doing so, would admit that there is indeed a universal concept pointed
to by the word "justice."
>
Shane Mage
> This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it
> always was and is and shall be: an everlasting fire,
> kindling in measures and going out in measures."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos