That’s enough internet for today

Me too!

That is true only to some extent. Frances Wright, who admittedly lived later than Washington (1795-1852), was one of the most vocal public abolitionists in the USA to the extent of my knowledge. Specifically, she was a feminist and abolitionist. Both she and Jefferson were Epicureans and knew the sources well, but she drew other, more ethical, conclusions, and supported the fight for abolition.

It is important to keep in mind that she was living later than Jefferson, and thus had access to different sources than he did. However, her example demonstrates that it was not impossible, even back then, to recognize that owning slaves was wrong and unethical. While I agree that it was typical for the elites to do it regardless, I want to emphasize that the sources to recognize that slavery was wrong were already there. Many people simply chose to ignore it.

Thus my stance is that it definitely was a sign of the times that it was widespread, I think the defining feature of the time was that people chose to ignore ethical conclusions. It isn’t just a sign of the time that people kept slaves - it was sign of the time that people chose to keep slaves even though they could’ve recognized that it was wrong and unethical.

I hope my point is understandeable. Just adding my two cents :)

Very interesting article! Thank you for sharing it.

My eyes…

That is really cool! It makes me anxious that the quality of the education declined, but alone the fact that so many people got the chance go receive education is huge. I’m very glad that the government wants to pursue this goal and is confident to be able to stem the costs. I’m hopeful that this will work - and as the interviewed government person said, education is the best foundation for a good economy. Seems very logical to me.

Yeah, I’ve seen comments about that as well. Thanks for calling them out - it is really important.

Thank you. That is the day when I’ll finally stop using Reddit. I never have thought that bots write that realistically, so thank you for proving it.

I haven’t heard of it! Thanks for the suggestion! :)

Okay, let me rephrase - for me it sounds that if people work together, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Aka, if I am one of the twenty who sit around and do nothing, stand up, I on my own probably won’t be able to block the policy. But if I stand up, there’s a good chance others will get up as well and do. Or maybe I’ll discover that after I stand up, there are three others of whom I haven’t suspected anything, but who now also oppose the policy. And thus by standing up, you also influence others. If that is successful (aka if you can stop the policy or not), you can only find out afterwards.

Is that right?

Then every single person who takes any action would make a difference in the world and change the situation, which obviousy isn’t true. Lots of people have tried rebelling and fighting against a regime, but failed. So this logic doesn’t apply in every case, does it?

I think the argument is kinda weak, because from my decision to do something (like construct a weapon) the other workers at the factories don’t change their opinion. For these kinds of events to happen, there must either already be a huge grudge in the workforce, so that you’re the “tipping point”, or you have to be as charismatic as a reborn Jesus and convince everyone to follow you. Both of these events seem implausible here. Thus, your decision to make or not make a weapon will not influence others, and the outcome won’t be significant.

However, I’d love to have your input on it. I think the question if for the judgment of an action it is important that it is significant (or not) is a fundamentally important one, so I’d really appreciate your response here :)

Very good criterias! I think OP posted a great question, and your philosophy seems to be a very interesting merge of a virtue-based approach (that A/B is always good/bad) and an utilitarian one. I like it at a lot :)

Hmmm, I’m just not sure - what qualifies as an active part? I think what for me matters is if your action has signicifact influence. Would you change the situation if you would’ve acted otherwise? I think for these day-to-day cases, I think it is a strong claim to make that “if you wouldn’t have used these apps, the situation for the delivery drivers would be different”. It is different for influences - both in the social media realm and people with money/power, whose actions - or non-actions - actually can change the situation of the workers. But if your action - or non-action - won’t change the situation, then how can one claim that one is actively making it worse?

I am using Fairphone (great company, they make ethical phones) together with /e/ OS, a fork of LineageOS. The great thing about Fairphone is that they officially support /e/ and offer a waranty of 5 years. In the past, they offered their Fairphone 2 a support of 7 years, including Software and Android version updates , which is absolutely mind-blowing. Also their phones are highly modular, you can switch basically everything (Battery, camera, speakers,…), they actually make an effort to improve production and manufacturing processes by e.g. using Fairtrade certified Gold, they obviously like Open Source,… And /e/ basically goes the route of “degoogling without making life inconvenient”. They have an App Store preinstalled (Aurora Store), with which you can access Google Play apps. They include MicroG, if you wish to, which makes using apps depending on Google services a lot easier. Also they offer their own ecosystem with e.g. Mail, Calendar, etc. And they are nonprofit! So seriously, if you want to get a degoogled Phone, I’d recommend the Fairphone (5 or 4 both are okay, although 5 would probably be better) together with /e/ OS combo without any doubt. The phone is amazing and hasn’t let me down, and although it has been quite a journey, I wouldn’t want to have chocen otherwise.

Just my take :)

Seriously, is that how far we came?

laughs in LineageOS

But seriously folks, you can survive without Google Play Store. While it definitely is sometimes not easy and there are obstacles put in your way, after a certain time you learn to accommodate. And I have a peace of mind knowing that no one is selling my pictures to data foraging companies God knows where.

True, I probably agree. I’ve thought about it as well. I think it is just important for me to clarify that using the app isn’t bad in itself, but I agree with you - if you don’t tip someone who depends on it, you dont oppose the exploitation of the workers and actively profit from it.

I disagree. By ordering via these apps, you contribute to the people who exploit the drivers, but you don’t make the decision to exploit them. It is a very big difference, in my opinion, because by ordering you don’t decide the drivers should be exploited. It is the decision of the CEOs to do it, and while you of course have a part in it, I think it is a strong claim to say that OP is actively making it worse.

I didn’t knew it was culturally dependent, but thank you for sharing! It is very interesting.