Quote:
Originally posted by Kadath
You know, I'm just trying to add some levity here. Lighten up.
|
Right back at ya.
Quote:
|
I think a problem here is your worship of the constitution. Maybe if you could admit that our founding fathers didn't know everything and weren't really that spectacular, but rather mere human beings with human fallacies, we could get somewhere.
|
I don't "worship" the Constitution, but I do think it is a pretty good document. So far you haven't proposed anything I better, nor do I care for the changes I suspect you would make.
Quote:
I think I might have to request you pull it up when you get the chance. It might be important. As for the motivations of World War II-era powers, you've brought them up before. Let's pretend I'm living in the now, a world where a world ground war is no longer feasible nor likely. And no, I don't want to debate that point.
|
Fine, but not tonight, I'm tired.
Ok you make a statement and don't want to debate it.
I'll just say that I think you're wrong then and leave it at that.
Quote:
You've put words in my mouth here. Unappreciated and unwarranted. There is a difference between carrying a gun in order to do one's job and carrying a gun to feel safe.
|
Sorry if I did that, but you are doing the same, so if we can get past it that would be good.
I will say however that you were the one that said "50 dollars", indicating at least to me that "50 dollars" is not worth someone getting killed. I was just trying to find out what amount was worth someone getting killed.
Quote:
First, men get raped too. Deal with it. My "basic assumption" was, in fact, a hypothetical situation, not a description of how all crimes happen. I've no problem with self-defense. Do you need a gun if your assailant doesn't have one?
|
Umm, never said they didn't, but I see why you assumed that.
And yes, if my assailant has a bat, a knife, and/or is simply larger and physically stronger than I am, yes I need a gun.
Your arguement ignores the fact that victims are often not big strong men who are trained in martial arts, but are frequently
women, the disabled, and the old.
Quote:
Lord, paranoia. Why give the government any power at all? Look, Nazi Germany came about not for lack of guns but due to the fact that Germany was ina severe economic depression and citizens felt very resentful of the world, and Hitler came along and gave them something to believe in, to get behind. Stalinist Russia had a similarly complicated beginning, as did Cambodia. You filter everything out but what matters to you -- namely, that they didn't have guns, and then pin the country's ills on that lack.
|
I reject fully your claim of "paranoia" and instead call it simple realism. Nor am I ignorant of all the factors that lead to the rise of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, etc. ad nauseum. But if you say I filter out everything but "what matters" to me, then I say you conveniently ignore the fact that during the rise of each of these dictatorships one of the first things they did was confiscate guns.
Quote:
|
Sure, if that makes you feel better. That's a pretty glib interpretation. But I suppose we have to simplify things to our comfort level. Could I then say that your solution to criminals who ignore and break laws is a steel-jacketed .44 hollowpoint to the face? I don't think so.
|
Technical aspects aside (there is no such thing as a steel-jacketed .44 hollowpoint), it seems that to be ultimately what your arguement boils down to. But if said criminal happens to be threatening me or my family in his law breaking, then YES, that would be my answer.
What would your answer be under such circumstances?