Re: Jews and the Muhammud cartoons

In article <dsdoge$n09$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Rafael <jmalfatto@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Steve Goldfarb" <slg@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dsdnck$fkh$2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In <1139426998.046800.260380@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> "Eliyahu"
<lrooff@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

There's still a great degree of ambiguity there. For example, if I
steal a thousand dollars from Bill Gates, it's caused him no actual
harm since he has more money than is possible to spend in a lifetime
and the theft would have absolutely no impact upon him or his family.
On the other extreme, the theft of a dollar from a pauper could leave
him totally destitute and unable to eat for a day or more. How do you
set up a system in which the punishment is based upon the economic
status of the victim without also making the wealthy into easy targets?

That's an interesting point, but I don't think you can employ such
subjective measures. Maybe Bill Gates clings to every dollar as if it's
life itself (which is why he's rich) and the pauper has no regard for
money whatseover (which is why he's poor). We can't have laws that try to
get into people's heads like that.

The Marxist idea, which HAS gotten into our society, is
that people deserve, whether they earn it or not. This
has done very much harm. All people may be created
LEGALLY equal, but they are clearly not equal in ability,
and insisting that they be give equal standards of living
just destroys the incentive to do better, among other things.

What you seem to suggest here is that we can't make laws based on values,
experience, or empathy. Yet I can think of no society that doesn't do
precisely that. I doubt that such as society is even possible (let alone
desirable).

There are many societies which did that, and quite a few
still do. Some even prevented private assistance. Whose
values are to be used? A large part of the cause for the
poor educational results in the US, and much of Europe may
be headed in this direction, is due to the imposition of
the values of the educationists that being with one's peer
group (defined by age) was more important than learning what
one can.

The Code of Hammurabi put greater value on those in the
upper classes than in the lower classes; stealing from
someone like Bill Gates, who would have been a noble in
that society, did get a greater penalty.

There is nothing in Jewish ethics which requires that a
rich man make the poor equally rich, nor that the society
should do the same. Anyhow, this will not make the poor
rich, although it would make the rich poor.

Rafael




--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
hrubin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: So after the Democrats clean house tomorrow.
    ... The top 20% of Americans earn basically half of the income. ... choose to pursue as a society. ... Those who get rich do so within ... You mean like almost every social institution and the poor? ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Economics (Was: the free software paradigm)
    ... all the excess wealth of the rich. ... the rich down to the same level as the poor, and then they'd all be equal. ... Are you sure you'd prefer such a society? ... combined with radical population control. ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)
  • Re: Economic Growth as a moral issue
    ... They consume little more than the poor, ... a rich man or a rich society consumes a great deal more of the world's natural resources than a poor man or a poor society. ...
    (uk.philosophy.humanism)
  • Re: Rich Lao-American?
    ... I have referred to the association between "Rich people" ... norms of reciprocity comprise of two types: ... "the existence of patron-client system" within society. ... poor because rich people help poor today, ...
    (soc.culture.laos)
  • To Dr. Joe and Pizone
    ... I have referred to the association between "Rich people" ... norms of reciprocity comprise of two types: ... "the existence of patron-client system" within society. ... poor because rich people help poor today, ...
    (soc.culture.laos)