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originally posted by: Itisnowagain
a reply to: ChaoticOrder
I think this video is even more relevant with what's going on..... it's at least 10 years old now.
The Story of Your Enslavement.
originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Vector99
Well, there are laws against that now, whereas in the past there were not.
originally posted by: ChaoticOrder
originally posted by: solarjetman
This seems a bit intrusive in the context of battling the pandemic, but I actually like the idea of treating people to have a greater capacity for morality. Imagine what the world would be like if we started with every politician and billionaire on the planet.
It's more than a bit intrusive to suggest secretly dosing the water supply with a drug which alters brain chemistry. As you say the idea of a "morality pill" isn't necessarily a bad idea, it could help people who have trouble feeling empathy such as sociopaths. The fundamental flaw with the thinking presented in this article is the logic "if someone doesn't want to comply with Covid-19 rules it must be because they lack morality or empathy" because that simply isn't true. We're painted as if we're grandma-hating lunatics who don't care about anyone, but that is obviously not true at all.
My capacity to feel empathy is already so high it can cause me problems, I wont even kill an ant because I can imagine what it's like to be the ant and maybe in another life I was an ant. Hell, maybe all conscious experiences are just the same life separated by what we call death. I cannot know the answers to these questions so I treat them all as a real possibility. I can empathize with almost anyone and imagine what it's like to be in their shoes, it doesn't matter if that person has completely the opposite beliefs to me, I will still try to be friendly (unless we're debating in the mudpit lol).
The left seems to have this belief that right wing ideologies arise from a lack of morality. They just want lower taxes because all they care about is making themselves rich, they oppose things like a basic income and free universal healthcare because they are greedy old white men who lack empathy for others. Increasing my level of empathy even higher would not change my political beliefs because I believe the most prosperous societies with the highest standards of living are those which encourage innovation and respect free market principles. The result is economic growth, less unemployment, and more tax revenue for the government without having to increase taxes.
Having more empathy also wouldn't change my stance on Covid-19 because I fundamentally believe that Over-flattening the curve only prolongs the suffering and prevents herd immunity. The most logical and humane solution in my view is to allow everyone to get back to work, get kids back to school, while following reasonable safety precautions to prevent overwhelming any hospitals. Simply don't visit your grandparents if you're worried. It is very clear that herd immunity is working in places which were hard hit by Covid-19, this suffering will all end when we allow herd immunity to occur at a safe pace. Instead many places are trying to flatten the curve until there is no curve, like NZ.
NZ is in a very precarious situation right now because they'll have to open their borders at some point, and the moment they do they'll feel the full force of Covid-19 because virtually no one there has immunity. I'm guessing they'll wait for a vaccine but unless they force people to take it I'm not sure how effective it will actually be at preventing them experiencing a Covid-19 wave. People are reaching the boiling point and that's clear with all these riots and other chaos happening around the world. At some point we have to acknowledge the very real possibility that our overblown fear-based response to Covid-19 has actually resulted in more suffering than it has prevented.
I would suggest that maybe those people who dismiss this widespread suffering and angst are actually the people who need a bit more empathy, the ability to really grasp the widespread economic destruction which has ruined countless lives. Those who constantly signal how much virtue they have often turn out to be exactly the opposite of what they claim. The person who wrote this ridiculous article clearly needs a taste of their own medicine if they cannot realize how sociopathic this plan sounds. It expresses a deep disregard for basic human rights and tries to portray it as being morally justified. Drugging people until they all sing songs and hold hands may sound nice but it's plainly evil.