<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body dir="auto"><p style="margin-top:0.0pt;margin-bottom:0.0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Yes, it was me who argued that nobody should be above the law in democratic societies. Is it justified to cheat the cheater, to lie to the liar? From a moral perspective I would say perhaps yes, because it would mean to beat the opponent with his own weapons.</span></p><br dir="auto"><p style="margin-top:0.0pt;margin-bottom:0.0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But would it be justified for a government to prevent the backsliding into a authoritarian system by using the same tools an authoritarian system is built upon, namely violence and murder? I would say no. For wannabe dictators and "strongmen" their weapon of choice is violence and murder. As Ruth Ben-Ghiat describes in her book, Mussolini ordered the murder of his opponent Giacomo Matteotti. Hitler murdered his opponents Ernst Röhm and Kurt von Schleicher. Both events marked the beginning of their devastating dictatorships. A president who orders the murder of his opponents is acting like such a dictator in a dictatorship. </span></p><br dir="auto"><p style="margin-top:0.0pt;margin-bottom:0.0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Therefore I would say if a government wants to prevent a democratic backsliding into a authoritarian system, it can not use the same tools as an authoritarian system would use, because it would already make the first step into authoritarianism, thereby becoming the system it tries to prevent. </span></p><p style="margin-top:0.0pt;margin-bottom:0.0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br></span></p><p style="margin-top:0.0pt;margin-bottom:0.0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">-J.</span></p><p style="margin-top:0.0pt;margin-bottom:0.0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br></span></p><div><br></div><div align="left" dir="auto" style="font-size:100%;color:#000000"><div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: glen <gepropella@gmail.com> </div><div>Date: 10/14/24 7:16 PM (GMT+01:00) </div><div>To: friam@redfish.com </div><div>Subject: Re: [FRIAM] [EXT] Re: tolerance of intolerance </div><div><br></div></div>I think that was Jochen that said it, not Russ. But your refutation is either a fallacy of ambiguity or composition. By "the rule of law", we don't mean the rule of any particular law ... like a city statute against walking your alligator down the street or whatever. We mean the entire legislative, executive, and judicial enterprise. Of course, particular slices of the population are exempt from some particular law. E.g. London cabbies used to be allowed to urinate wherever without regard to the typical laws governing such. That doesn't imply that London cabbies are "above the law". I suppose you could say they're above that particular set of laws. But "exempt" isn't synonymous with "above", anyway.<br><br>I don't think the SCOTUS ruling on immunity claims the President is above the law, contrary to the implications of the left's rhetoric, only that they're exempt from some/most/all laws when executing the role of their office. It's bad. But it's not bad in the way the rhetoric implies.<br><br>On 10/14/24 09:27, Prof David West wrote:<br>> Sorry Russ, but /"Nobody should be above the law if the rule of law has any meaning in a democratic society,"/ is an absurd idea.<br>> <br>> Assuming the US is a democratic society (in some sense), I would defy you to find any existing law that does not have exceptions that place someone, in some role or in some cirsumstance, "above" that law.<br>> <br>> davew<br>> <br>> <br>> On Mon, Oct 14, 2024, at 8:58 AM, John Kennison wrote:<br>>><br>>><br>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>>><br>>> *From:* Friam <friam-bounces@redfish.com> on behalf of Marcus Daniels <marcus@snoutfarm.com><br>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, July 16, 2024 3:02 PM<br>>> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com>; Russ.Abbott@gmail.com <Russ.Abbott@gmail.com><br>>> *Subject:* [EXT] Re: [FRIAM] tolerance of intolerance<br>>><br>>> I don’t think that’s fair. It depends on the opponent and what they represent both in terms of ideology and the sociological phenomenon they are a part of.<br>>><br>>><br>>> *From:*Friam <friam-bounces@redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Jochen Fromm<br>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, July 16, 2024 11:52 AM<br>>> *To:* Russ.Abbott@gmail.com; The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com><br>>> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] tolerance of intolerance<br>>><br>>><br>>> A president who murders his opponents would not be better than an evil dictator in an authoritarian state. Putin's opponents like Navalny, Litvinenko and Nemtsov were all brutally poisoned and/or murdered.<br>>><br>>><br>>> But you are right, this possibility exists after the recent decision of the supreme court. It seems to be a result of democratic backsliding. Nobody should be above the law if the rule of law has any meaning in a democratic society.<br>>><br>>><br>>> -J.<br>>><br>>><br>>><br>>> -------- Original message --------<br>>><br>>> From: Russ Abbott <russ.abbott@gmail.com <mailto:russ.abbott@gmail.com>><br>>><br>>> Date: 7/16/24 7:48 PM (GMT+01:00)<br>>><br>>> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com <mailto:friam@redfish.com>><br>>><br>>> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] tolerance of intolerance<br>>><br>>><br>>> Why has no one pointed out the possibility that if Trump wins, Biden could take advantage of his newly declared immunity and have him assassinated?<br>>><br>>><br>>> -- Russ<br>>><br>>><br>>> On Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 6:24 AM glen <gepropella@gmail.com <mailto:gepropella@gmail.com>> wrote:<br>>><br>>> Yeah. It's one thing to wish it or want it. It's another to think more in Marcus' terms and come up with a more complex strategy not involving stupid 20 year olds and no violence at all. I still hold out hope for my own personal conspiracy theory. Biden becomes the nominee. After the convention fades, the Admnistration announces Biden has gone to the hospital for bone spur surgery. Kamala takes over temporarily and campaigns furiously for Biden-Harris. Biden is re-elected. Biden recovers and gets through the Oath (fingers crossed). Then he goes back to the hospital with some minor thing like a dizzy spell. Kamala takes over again. Biden's condition worsens. First Female President. Biden recovers and becomes America's Grandpa.<br>>><br>>> Come on Deep State. Make it happen. 8^D<br>>><br>>> On 7/15/24 17:30, Russ Abbott wrote:<br>>> > I wonder what Scott's response would have been to those of us who, in response to the shooting, thought: better luck next time.<br>>> > On 7/15/24 17:28, Marcus Daniels wrote:<br>>> >> It ignores the option of doing things quietly and indirectly.<br>>> >> On 7/15/24 16:46, glen wrote:<br>>> >>> [Scott's] Prayer<br>>> >>> https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=8117 <https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=8117><br>>> >>><br>>> >>> I'm currently surrounded by people who believe intolerance is properly not tolerated. Scott's message, here, seems extraordinary Christian, to me. (Real Christian, not the Christianism displayed in things like megachurches and whatnot cf https://raymondsmullyan.com/books/who-knows/ <https://raymondsmullyan.com/books/who-knows/>). This faith that "going high" will, in the long run, win out, seems naive to me. The temptation to "hoist the black flag and start slitting throats" isn't merely a thresholded reaction, it's an intuitive grasp of the iterated prisoner's dilemma, tit-for-tat style strategies, and Ashby's LoRV. But I'm open to changing my mind on that. Maybe I'm just too low-brow?<br>>> >>><br><br><br>-- <br>ꙮ Mɥǝu ǝlǝdɥɐuʇs ɟᴉƃɥʇ' ʇɥǝ ƃɹɐss snɟɟǝɹs˙ ꙮ<br>-. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. .<br>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<br>Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam<br>to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com<br>FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/<br>archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/<br> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/<br></body></html>