I want to address this argument because it actually ends up somewhere I don't think you want to be.

Some backgroud is in order. I am a Wiccan, which means I actually have only one ethical precept, called the Wiccan Rede. It reads: An it harm none, do what thou wilt. We also have only one law (more of an observation, really) called the Rule of Three. It reads: Whatever you do returns threefold upon you.

All Wiccans agree that if I rape someone, I have violated the Rede, as I have caused harm. Same goes for (most) killing, theft, assault, etc. Most Wiccans would also agree that by helping others, I am helping me and mine. So far, so good.

Most Wiccans would also say that if I give someone a knife, knowing they are capable of killing, and they use that knife to kill, I have committed harm. I vehemently disagree with this.

For me to withold that knife, I must assert a greater moral capability than my friend. I am, in effect, making the moral choice for him. This is the same attitude that the Chinese goverment has when they ban certain websites on the grounds that the sites are seditious. Their reasoning goes something like this:

  1. If a citizen were to read something that maligns the government, they will be swayed by it.
  2. If the citizen is swayed by it, we'll have to imprison them.
  3. Since imprisoning a citizen is bad, we have to prevent the citizen from being exposed to what will get them imprisoned.

The problem here is that the government is asserting that the citizen is a stupid sheep that has no capability to do the right thing. In effect, the only entity capable of moral action is the government.

Here's another example, from the West. In nearly every industrialized nation, suicide is illegal. It is against the law to kill yourself. Why? Who have I harmed? Am I not in control of my body? Essentially, the goverment is saying that it knows better than I do. The same goes for the "War On Drugs" and several other intrusive initiatives.

The point being that if I have to be morally responsible for the concesquences of your actions, I have to assert that you are a lesser being, morally, than I am. I hope that's not what you want to say.

------
We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

Then there are Damian modules.... *sigh* ... that's not about being less-lazy -- that's about being on some really good drugs -- you know, there is no spoon. - flyingmoose

I shouldn't have to say this, but any code, unless otherwise stated, is untested

In reply to Re^2: Information sharing by dragonchild
in thread Information sharing by dragonchild

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