GirlChat #541214


it took a good idea (temperance) too far

Posted by Baldur on 2011-October-10 02:22:59 EDT, Monday
In reply to OT-ish Ken Burns' 'Prohibition' posted by Dante on 2011-October-09 18:31:09 EDT, Sunday

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I agree with Princess Boy about the quality of Dante's posts.

I would like to point out a related topic ⚠️ ↗ that has recently been making the news. The idea that an excess of selflessness - pathological altruism - can be just as harmful as an excess of selfishness, is not new. Characters along the lines of Elmyra ⚠️ ↗ have been around for some time. Aristotle would doubtless have understood the dangers of straying from the Golden Mean ⚠️ ↗.

But it is, nonetheless, good to give a name to this phenomenon, and to recognize it as a real problem. It is pathological altruism that has given us Prohibition, the Drug War, rising anxiety among children, the Satanic Child Abuse Panic, the Witch Hunts, and many more - including, of course, the Pedophile Panic. The crimes done in the name of the greater good are beyond measure.




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