: Says alot about the 'lefts' view of mankind as being controlled by materials. Rather than stem the reason for murder you wish just to make it harder? Rather than stem the motivation for acquisition you just want to make it harder?Piper: Who ever said i belonged to the left? I never said man was controlled by materials, merely that the propinquity of certain things can lead to certain abuses due to shall we say a certain weakness of the will (akrasia).
The reasons for murder are various- passion, greed, duress, etc. How could one ever hope to stem all these things? It is an impossibility. In light of this it seems perfectly reasonable to me as a matter of prevention that we make items that can be abused harder to come by.
: Doesnt sound like a solution to the 'problem'
: : : So if in nature pre historic man was trying to line his cave with meats, fruits and furs was he also being corrupted?
: : Piper: greed i think is the cause of many ills and has been for many years (and always will be).
: What would happen to the cave man who didnt make sure he had that stuff? he'd die. Can you see how that 'greed' might be a survival skill?
Piper: Yes, well, even if that WAS true (and i am not convineced), we are not living in the stone age any more, so it seems to me rather anachronistic to be arguing for it as a survival skill in this day and age.
: : Piper: One man works a 60 hour week another man is unemployed. I can see a solution there. Can you not?
: No. Lets say the first is an expert welder and the other is a poet. Whose bridge would you wish to cross? The one made by the welder or the one whose construction was so kindly shared with the poet? And the above says nothing about what the two people *want* to do.
Piper: Point being that people may not want to work 60 hours and that there are others out there who can pick up the slack (e.g 2 engineers, 1 working 60 hours, the other unemployed). I was never saying there is perfect fit. The example you give is deliberately absurd.
None.
