Re:A Warning from the Unpublished Preface to Orwell’s Animal...
by manofmanysmiles on Tuesday August 15, 2023 @01:56PM
(#37137138)
The “harm” is caused when people realize it is not moral for people to use violence against each other in the name of authority, and as a consequence cease to follow the commands of authority figures. No real harm is caused when this illusion disappears, hence the quotes. The power structure will disappear, and be “harmed”, but no human being will be.
Of course people are not mature enough to self govern yet. There would be chaos if all people playing the roles of police, military, etc stopped. That’s the primal terror and darkness we need to face individually, to confront the part of self that can do violence, and learn to govern it internally, and be the ruler of the kingdom of self.
When people are ready, these institutions will simply cease to exist, and be as absurd and illusionary any other superstition.
Re:A Warning from the Unpublished Preface to Orwell’s Animal...
by Dylan16807 on Tuesday August 15, 2023 @02:38PM
(#37137606)
> The “harm” is caused when people realize it is not moral for people to use violence against each other in the name of authority, and as a consequence cease to follow the commands of authority figures.
I don't see how half of your bullet points lead to that, but in particular here I don't see how conspiracy theories lead to that. Especially with the wording of "Anything deemed a “conspiracy theory”", which would mean all conspiracy theories do this plus or minus rounding error.
> People who do engage with some wilder ideas do in fact take some actions that are harmful. It’s not the ideas that are harmful, but the actions taken without more complete knowledge that is.
If indirect consequences like that don't count then it's not "“harmful” to the current paradigm of power" either, so I thought we were including those.