Skip Navigation

InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)EN
Posts
0
Comments
895
Joined
1 yr. ago

  • Harvard, specifically, can no longer enroll foreign students? But other universities can?

    This seems like an EO version of a bill of attainder. IANAL, but shouldn't this be a job for the judiciary rather than the executive branch?

  • From that particular perspective, property taxes may be the fairest of the tax "flavors" since it is directly tied to your place of residency and can be localized based on the public services in your area. And indeed, this is largely how New Hampshire functions, though they do also have some other revenue such as excise taxes.

  • Its too bad they’ve had unconditional US support for so long.

    There's a huge generational divide regarding Americans and their support for Israel. I suspect that pro-Israel will not be a viable platform in a few decades. Of course that does absolute fuck-all to help Palestine right now.

  • I think only those who already/still support Israel will see it that way.

    Everyone else is sick of their shit and isn't going to buy the "antisemitic" line because it's been milked dry. We are well past the point where them doubling-down on calling everything "antisemitic" is going to sway any new people.

  • I don’t really accept the premise that creating a life is either good or bad for the created life.

    Interesting...

    The most common argument I see in opposition to antinatalism is an assertion that creating a life is good for that created life. Maybe not 100%, but strongly enough in that direction for them to make the claim.

  • If I believe in numerology and as a result decide to pat myself on the head 12 times before bed that is not evidence that numerology is not a nutty woo woo theory

    Well...billions of people on this planet do believe in divine supreme beings. I assume that, for the sake of consistency, you consider deity-based religions to be nutty woo woo theories on similar grounds, yes? I should note that they believe in it to the extent of fighting actual wars over it.

    has real world applications.

    I already explained the real world applications of antinatalism in my previous comments. These are real things that people do that have actual, quantifiable results.

    As I said, prospective parents need to accept the risk that their child might resent them for being born. I’m happy to consider that in the unlikely circumstance that I encounter it

    That isn't answering the question though. You obviously think that creating life is good for the life being created, yes? And antinatalists don't.

  • He would have done more in the service of antinatalism by becoming a doctor and performing sterilization surgeries; lots of childfree people who want to get sterilization have a difficult time finding a doctor willing to perform the procedure. He would be providing the market with an in-demand service.

    Or barring medical skills, donating money to various organizations (e.g. Planned Parenthood) that would advance his cause.

  • You’re talking about it as though it’s a credible ideology when in reality it is, at best, a nutty thought experiment with no real world application.

    It is a credible ideology, even if you disagree with it, and there are legitimate discussions to be had in academic and philosophical circles. And it absolutely does have real world applications, even if these are limited in scope:

    • Many people choose to personally abstain from reproduction out of these considerations.
    • Veganism is, at its core, a form of applied antinatalism.
    • The push for spay/neuter of companion animals is another direct application of this ideology

    Again, there is room for it so long as it remains limited in scope and isn't taken to an extreme degree such as engaging in abhorrent acts of violence.

    It’s not a question of whether being brought into existence is good.

    Maybe it should be. If not a question of whether it is good or not, then what is it a question of? And if one does not believe that it is good, then why proceed?

    No parent seriously considered whether their unconceived child consented.

    This is due to selection bias. One might presume that those who do give this serious consideration would refrain from becoming parents.

  • So we're back to: you can't get consent for creating a new life. Since consent can't be obtained, you have to justify the position of doing something that affects someone without their consent.

    There is precedence for this. I think a better analogy, that avoids the paradoxical issues of non-existence, would be life-saving treatment for someone who is unconscious. The treatment can either be administered (without consent, due to the patient being unconscious) to save their life. Or the treatment can be withheld and the patient dies. Justifying this treatment is predicated on the treatment being to the benefit of the recipient and is generally accepted with some various exceptions.

    Many people would be of the opinion that creating a new person is beneficial to said new person. However this is where the fundamental disagreement between antinatalists and pronatalists would be. Is creating a new person beneficial or detrimental to the person being created? The hard antinatalism position says that it is "always bad", but of course the answer to this question can be conditional as well and need not be an absolute "always good" or "always bad". And people have different thresholds for where this point is. That's it, that's the difference of opinion.