"the law cannot serve it’s purpose of maintaining order without an underpinning moral code. Otherwise, it becomes a system of oppression."
It seems like liberation to eradicate the illusion of absolute moral constraints so that humans may fashion law and policy to according to their own desires. After all, why should we be bound by holy books or long-dead ancient philosophers? When you have genetic splicing and modern psychology, who needs the Tao?
The problem is, as C.S. Lewis says in Abolition of Man, that the power to redefine morality is never given to all humans but to some humans (generally the more powerful) over other humans (the weaker). Thus, for almost all humans, the only question is whether the law serves a commonly recognized moral order (the Tao, for lack of a better term), or whether it just serves the interests of the powerful.
That's what made Plato so good. He saw that 2400 years ago.
I plan on writing a follow-up to the Ryan Carson case from a purely personal safety perspective, minus the broader social commentary.
I do want to point a few things I've learned since I published this entry: it was apparently 4 am and these two were likely fairly intoxicated. I know we've all done it before, but staying out late and drinking is obviously a risk, especially in an American city. Also, judging from the video (there's since been a copy released with audio), Carson didn't follow nor confront his killer. He and his girlfriend just happened to walk the same direction and the killer took it as a challenge and attacked Carson. It was completely unprovoked.
Carson is obviously naive and not a good-faith actor (dare I say malicious), but he really was a victim here, even if it was at the hands of someone he regarded as one of the "good guys."
Some of these people, despite living in the city, seem to learn nothing. They become complacent and assume because nothing bad has happened yet, it never could. They also really internalize the belief that the world is a lot more peaceful than it actually is and that safety, not danger, is the default.
"the law cannot serve it’s purpose of maintaining order without an underpinning moral code. Otherwise, it becomes a system of oppression."
It seems like liberation to eradicate the illusion of absolute moral constraints so that humans may fashion law and policy to according to their own desires. After all, why should we be bound by holy books or long-dead ancient philosophers? When you have genetic splicing and modern psychology, who needs the Tao?
The problem is, as C.S. Lewis says in Abolition of Man, that the power to redefine morality is never given to all humans but to some humans (generally the more powerful) over other humans (the weaker). Thus, for almost all humans, the only question is whether the law serves a commonly recognized moral order (the Tao, for lack of a better term), or whether it just serves the interests of the powerful.
That's what made Plato so good. He saw that 2400 years ago.
I plan on writing a follow-up to the Ryan Carson case from a purely personal safety perspective, minus the broader social commentary.
I do want to point a few things I've learned since I published this entry: it was apparently 4 am and these two were likely fairly intoxicated. I know we've all done it before, but staying out late and drinking is obviously a risk, especially in an American city. Also, judging from the video (there's since been a copy released with audio), Carson didn't follow nor confront his killer. He and his girlfriend just happened to walk the same direction and the killer took it as a challenge and attacked Carson. It was completely unprovoked.
Carson is obviously naive and not a good-faith actor (dare I say malicious), but he really was a victim here, even if it was at the hands of someone he regarded as one of the "good guys."
Some of these people, despite living in the city, seem to learn nothing. They become complacent and assume because nothing bad has happened yet, it never could. They also really internalize the belief that the world is a lot more peaceful than it actually is and that safety, not danger, is the default.
Ryan Carson was one of those people.