Quote:
Originally Posted by arjaybe
Once you "enshrine" the concept of property, you're on the road to increasingly extreme forms of it. Making property sacrosanct sets the stage for accepting almost anything in its defence. All manner of abuse will be accepted because the victim doesn't have the proper respect for property. This encourages calling people "pirates." This permits heinous act of violence against people in the name of property. It creates a situation where the holders of the most property can make the laws to protect their privilege, and make the rest of us like it.
Under these conditions, yes it is possible for a "free" book to be "pirated."
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More word games so people can rationalize selfishly doing stuff they have no right to do, and put their own whims above the interests of others or any common good.
The relevant meaning of "enshrine" here is:
Quote:
preserve (a right, tradition, or idea) in a form that ensures it will be protected and respected.
"the right of all workers to strike was enshrined in the new constitution"
synonyms: preserve, entrench, set down, lay down, set in stone, embody, incorporate, contain, include, treasure, immortalize, cherish
"the following rights should be enshrined in the treaty"
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and it is how we function as a civilized society, rather than just anarchistic animals.
Somewhere mixed in your statement is the idea that property rights are bad, or at least unimportant, and people shouldn't defend property. Most people disagree with you. I disagree with you. And, while you are entitled to your opinion, keep your hands off my stuff.
Words have power and influence, sure, but it's not because we have assigned words like "enshrine" and "piracy" that I and many others feel that way. You have that part totally backwards. We assign those words BECAUSE we feel that way. Maybe instead of trying to change the words in a fit of political correctness, more folks should worry about getting the message, in a bit of
actual correctness.
Social and political abuses and excesses are NOT solved by renaming things. And the argument to do so is a distraction at best, and a harmful, misleading smokescreen at worst.
You seem to imply that calling something "piracy" by analogy directly leads to people storming in with muskets and cutlasses and slaughtering people.
Well, that's nonsense, but hopefully it means you'll understand when I say that infringing on Intellectual Property rights, and treating it like there is nothing wrong with doing it, can indeed to lead to acceptance of infringement of other rights, with similar rationalization and self-justification.