On the priority ordering of values

[ultimatepsi]

A few different thought streams just merged in my head, and I'd like to share.

Comments

[mariaklob]

Hmm. If I were to make up an ordered list of the top values I consider moral

[mariaklob]

I don't particularly value respect for authority, but I hold contracts sacred. (See: honesty.) And to be a citizen of a place is to enter into a contract with that place. You're obligated to uphold all laws that are not egregiously unjust and harmful. In the end, one's own careful judgment wins; but you had better think twice before flouting rules that you agreed to live under when you got to benefit from a group or society.

[ultimatepsi]

I like your list of values. Thank you for sharing them.

[endlessgame]

That'd be an advantage of countries being smaller, but larger in number:
Big countries, alliances and international unions mean fewer options as to what contract you can choose. And there are no longer enough unexplored Terran terrains for those who want to strike out and create their own contract.
I mean, I guess people like that could pull a Galt's Gulch... But that's rather unrealistic for most people, especially given countries' normal takes on secession.
It'll probably happen more often once we start inhabiting new worlds, though.

[ultimatepsi]

Sea colonies are another possibility for new countries.

[benndragon]

It's totally your prerogative to ignore crackpots and jerks. But if it's okay to muzzle them, then somebody somewhere is going to muzzle women/minorities/left-handers/their unfavored group of choice. So, let them live and let them talk.IME, people are going to (at least try to) muzzle unfavored groups regardless of how you treat the assholes. Hell, they'll even use the "you muzzle those people over there" line when you have done no such thing. So really, there's no point in using that argument - it fails to reflect actual human behavior