I never said this, what I said is that is that societal figures of power exist with a benevolent purpose and should not be perceived as evil.
The system of checks and balances on the power of the state can be seen in two lights: 1) as a way to prevent tyrannies from arising or 2) as a way to let the good actors freely act within well defined boundaries.
I simply believe the second point of view to be much more fruitful and stable.
Re:The German Problem with Tor
by StanislavPetrov on Thursday July 23, 2020 @09:16PM
(#23934641)
>I never said this, what I said is that is that societal figures of power exist with a benevolent purpose
Societal figures of power exist with a necessary purpose - there is nothing benevolent about them.
This is a bizarrely naive worldview. In democratic countries the government's role is to implement a system of governance decided on by the people. The whole idea behind having a system of "checks and balances" is to prevent the government from unilaterally deciding what constitutes "safety and protection" and what measures it deems necessary to do so. Every despotic regime in history has claimed to be "protecting and safeguarding the state and its people" while stifling the freedom of its people. Ceding rights and freedoms to the government because you perceive them as benevolent overseers with pure motives is incredibly dangerous and absurd to anyone with any knowledge of history.