Why not punish families? A challenge for consequentialists

Re:Why not punish families? A challenge for consequentialists by bhickey on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @05:30AM (#37494370)

It's baffling that the writer either overlooked or ignored this. Collective punishment transfers the cost of enforcement from the ruler to the ruled.

We don't need florid nonsense[0] or baby Hitler hypotheticals to explain it. The Nazis didn't engage in reprisals[1,2] on the basis of moral philosophy. One practical motivation was to alienate resistance from the remainder of the population.

[0] What’s clear is that when rulers enforce family punishments, the ruled shiver with terror. Don’t tell me these tactics don’t work.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidice_massacre

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Kondomari

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Re:Why not punish families? A challenge for consequentialists by WeylandYutani on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @06:10AM (#37494719)

These tactics don't work because both sides will just go colonel Kurtz and spiral into endless depravity. The CIA tried their mind ops from Vietnam to Nicaragua and their enemies never cowered.

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Re:Why not punish families? A challenge for consequentialists by bhickey on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @06:40AM (#37494927)

Yep. Look at the failure of terror bombing campaigns. Rather than demoralizing civilian populations, it hardens their resolve to fight from London to Kyiv.

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