Re:The media's hit piece on Richard Stallman
by taylodl on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @09:35AM
(#21005231)
Seeing as how being branded a pedophile makes you a pariah you would think we'd have come to some consensus as to what exactly pedophilia is. Seeing as how reasonable people around the world have been unable to agree upon such a definition then we should be careful before applying that label. If truth and morals are things that actually exist and are discernible then we should be able to figure this out. Discussions such as this are the means for how we go about that.
Re:The media's hit piece on Richard Stallman
by eesmith on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @12:33PM
(#21007056)
Epstein clearly wasn't treated as pariah even after a pedophile conviction so your statement is not always correct. Ditto Roman Polanski.
Kissinger is a war criminal. He's not treated as such. Truth and morals therefore aren't the only factors in the political-legal system.
I still want there to be a definition of war criminal, even if there isn't an agreement. Ditto for pedophile.
Discussions are worthless if people don't don't listen. Stallman wasn't listening to the existing discussion when he made up his definition of what "sexual assault" means.
"Sexual assault" as is generally understood does not mean that violence was necessarily involved, while Stallman said it was required. He further went on to say that it was "absolutely wrong to use the term “sexual assault” in an accusation", and said that people should use more precise terms. However, "sexual assault" is the precise term, or at the very least the encompassing term for a sexual act with someone unable to give consent.
I don't think it's a misrepresentation to say Stallman doesn't understand what people mean by "sexual assault", as its generally legally defined.
With regards to (1), we also don't if Minksy thought she was a prostitute that Epstein got <wink>, <wink> for him, or why Minsky didn't think he was being set up for blackmail. Commercial sex with a minor is different from consensual non-commercial sex with a minor. Why did 73-year-old Minksy think that a teenager wanted to have sex with him?
We don't know. He can't defend himself. Stallman doesn't either. But he presents only one possible scenario - the one which puts Minksy in the best light.
Minsky also can't be hurt, so, why waste any social capital on this topic?
There are many age-related laws which differ around the world (drinking, driving age, and more). His complaint about the lack of world-wide agreement doesn't just make it "absolutely wrong to use the term “sexual assault” in an accusation", which is what he (wrongly) asserts. It makes it absolutely wrong to use any legal term. Which is absurd.