a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by rob05c
rob05c  ·  3417 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Can we cogently refute "stealing is stealing"?

    Legally Johnny is in the wrong.

Absolutely. I disapprove of the law, but Johnny is undeniably a lawbreaker.

flagamuffin seemed to be concerned by my moral argument, so I was trying to address that (admittedly poorly).

    I would really like to see you elaborate on this one.

The public certainly doesn't have the right to manipulate the bank's physical systems, to manipulate the account. Whether the public has access to that information is a privacy issue. Privacy is a conflicting value, just like libel is a conflicting value for Free Speech.

    Do you have a problem with this?

    I dunno, man. I value protection from unlawful search and seizure and the right to privacy a bit higher than the right to read or watch whatever I want.

Yes, I vehemently oppose warrantless search and wiretapping. And I'll freely admit this is somewhat at odds with my belief in Freedom of Information. I don't have everything figured out.