the problem w/ abandoning paternalism is that this assumes a society has meaningful rituals for ensuring one has come of age

when this is not so, people who are de facto children in adult bodies are released to flounder, on the assumption that this is obviously better for them
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RT @eigenrobot
thinking about the @Chris_arnade story about front row and back row Americans, which really came to mind here

and also that greentext about t…
https://twitter.com/eigenrobot/status/1411036677867401218

this strongly resonates for me, as my life path has been one of desperately trying to break free from the ties which bound me, only to realize, as I succeeded, how important it was for this to be difficult to do

the default path should be the same one

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RT @eigenrobot
I hate this conclusion because my fondest desire is for everyone to fuck off and leave other people alone

but a very large number of people are not up to the task of …
https://twitter.com/eigenrobot/status/1411044583941672963

the best constraints are stepwise in nature, rather than binary; there are very few questions where the right answer is to categorically ban something

high guardrails encourage regression to the mean; should one desire something else strongly enough, they'll break through anyway

this is similar to how software is designed with different personas in mind; UIs are typically optimized for the lowest common denominator, and the poweruser features made harder to access; this works, bc the latter class tends to be more resilient in the face of obstacles

the pathways through society should be no different; very little should truly be banned, especially not that which predominantly only harms those who opt for it. a government's role should be twofold: a safety net for the common man, and an economic platform to build on top of.

the trouble arises in the difficulty of precisely defining these terms, and the variety of responsibilities which can be lumped underneath these umbrellas; where does individual responsibility end? nothing is truly independent, so how much collateral damage is acceptable?