[MD] Down the road of mediocrity

[pholden at davtv.com]

Quoting ARLO J BENSINGER JR <ajb102 at psu.edu>:

> [Platt had claimed]
> Some people are better than others. (Actually, he had asked if I thought some
> people were better than others, and then argued a bit how Galileos are more
> moral than criminals.)
> 
> [Arlo then asked]
> Name someone who is "more moral" than you are. Do you think that makes their
> intrinsic value as a human being  "better" than yours?
> 
> [Platt]
> A soldier defending this country from terrorists.  Yes.
> 
> [Arlo]
> Aside from wondering why soldiers are paid so little, comparatively, if they are
> intrinsically "better" than everyone else, would you say that that soldier is a
> better person than your local firefighter?

No.

> Does this bely the fact that those
> who sacrifice for the greater good are better people?.... Methinks it does!

No. Soldiers, police, firemen volunteer for those jobs.

> [Arlo had also asked]
> Is Galileo more moral than Sam Walton? Is James Gleick a better person than Sam
> Walton?
> 
> [Platt]
> No. No.
> 
> [Arlo]
> Then how do we tell who is better than another? Or is this only in broad
> categories like "those fighting for intellectual freedom from social repression
> are 'better' than those fighting for (threatening) biological freedom from
> social repression"?

Are you suggesting those who rob to feed their drug habit are better than
Einstein or Picasso? 

> [Platt]
> Read what Pirsig says about brigands and Indians who dash babies' brains out.
> 
> [Arlo]
> I feel like I'm in a free-form prose contest. I have no idea what you mean here.
> Are you suggesting that Europeans were better people than the Indians? 

I'm suggesting that Pirsig agrees with me that some people are morally superior
to others.

> [Platt]
> Nowhere in the MOQ do I see the justification for forcing Peter to pay for
> Paul's illness. If you think it does, please provide the supporting quotes.
> 
> [Arlo]
> Well, as I said, if its moral for society to provide food and heath for its
> incarcerated, I'd think its straightforward to say its moral for society to
> provide food and health for its poor. I recall a story once my granddad used to
> tell me about the "bums" that would come through the area at the beginning of
> winter, toss a brick through a storefront window, and wait to be arrested.
> They'd spend six months in jail, in other words receive free lodging and meals.
> The cost of incarceration was (is) much higher. Should we just suppose our poor
> will be become criminals first, and then we'll take care of them?

Yes, I know you would rather give up your liberty than go hungry, or "Better
red than dead." For me, like Pirsig, freedom is the highest value. "Give me
liberty or give me death."   




-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/