>This is like introducing a non-native organism to deal with an environmental problem, having unintended consequences bite you in the ass,
And what I'm talking about specifically here is that there seems to ALWAYS be something more and unintended that is in line with the *thread* that you start with the actions.
Evil begets more evil, etc. So if you try to justify some evil act (like torture) with the potential expediency or ostensible necessity, the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of consequences (often unforseen) that consist of "more/continued/escalated Evil".
And as far as I can tell, microcosmically, the principle applies all the way down to even the smallest "white lies" that are still deceptions, told in some vain attempt to avoid some bigger badness. The consequences, while small, inevtiably add up and the truth winds up in the long run, having been the better alternative.
It's one thing to calculate the consequences of your actions and take responsibility for known quantities of action. And of course, it's proportional. But, it sure looks alot to me that doing bad things for good reasons makes for bad results in the long run. And the badder the thing, the worse the consequences get. We've not paid the full price for torturing prisoners and trashing our own due process sytem. The price for that will be high, and if we don't clean up our act it's going to be higher than any two towers.
(no subject)
And what I'm talking about specifically here is that there seems to ALWAYS be something more and unintended that is in line with the *thread* that you start with the actions.
Evil begets more evil, etc. So if you try to justify some evil act (like torture) with the potential expediency or ostensible necessity, the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of consequences (often unforseen) that consist of "more/continued/escalated Evil".
And as far as I can tell, microcosmically, the principle applies all the way down to even the smallest "white lies" that are still deceptions, told in some vain attempt to avoid some bigger badness. The consequences, while small, inevtiably add up and the truth winds up in the long run, having been the better alternative.
It's one thing to calculate the consequences of your actions and take responsibility for known quantities of action. And of course, it's proportional. But, it sure looks alot to me that doing bad things for good reasons makes for bad results in the long run. And the badder the thing, the worse the consequences get. We've not paid the full price for torturing prisoners and trashing our own due process sytem. The price for that will be high, and if we don't clean up our act it's going to be higher than any two towers.