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Re:L.A.'s coast was once a DDT dumping ground, but no one co... by hyperbovine on Monday October 26, 2020 @08:31AM (#24895408)
> the immorality of arbitrary post-hoc punishment, is that it is not pragmatic

I don’t see why it needs to be arbitrary, and all punishment occurs post hoc.

Re:L.A.'s coast was once a DDT dumping ground, but no one co... by macspoofing on Monday October 26, 2020 @08:35AM (#24895440)
>I don’t see why it needs to be arbitrary

It's arbitrary because we're creating a new standard and judging (and punishing) those who did not follow it in the past. And OP is clearly arbitrary in their reasoning. They suggested collective punishment and didn't bother thinking through the implications of how that policy would be implemented and what unintended consequences it would have.

>and all punishment occurs post hoc.

Post hoc rationalization for punishment. The actions taken were legal at the time, and OP argued that that shouldn't stand in the way of punishing those individuals (or their descendants) today.