So, Eastman and the Declaration of Independence and the linked article are on the same page as far as this: There is no “prohibit.” A lot of the world runs on prison rules; more so than may be immediately apparent if you live in a well-ordered first world society. You can try to overthrow the government if you want, because that’s just the reality: You have hands and feet, maybe you have weapons; it’s not like an AI safety mechanism will kick in “FORBIDDEN, I MUST NOT.” You can roll yourself down the road and do whatever you want to do.
But, don’t get all surprised if the government reacts in a certain way.
In other words, yes, you have a revolutionary right to overthrow the government if you really think its abuses have gotten that intractable and grave. But the government has an equal right to stop you, to defend itself or, as we see today, put you on trial if you fail. The American revolutionaries of 1776 knew full well that they were committing treason against the British monarchy. If they lost they would all hang. They accepted that. They didn’t claim that George III had no choice but to let them go.
This is a certain mindset that people can get themselves into when they take for granted systems of justice that protect them: They are allowed to trample all over the system and the rights of other people because of some logic they concocted. But the instant someone starts doing something to them, they forget all about how it’s prison rules, and start screaming about how what the other person is doing is not allowed. Hanging Mike Pence is fine. Shooting Ashleigh Babbitt was a shocking breach of these civilized rules you are supposed to be following. Et cetera. It’s like those people who fight with the police and then get super loud about how their handcuffs are too tight and they need a drink of water. Like, dude, you were the one that opted out.
Yes, John Eastman should get due process. The handcuffs should be a reasonable tightness; that’s an important part of our system even when the suspect tried to run over a state trooper five minutes ago. But also, we should remember everything he had to say about prison rules, if at some point in the future he has something to say about how unfair it all is.
So, Eastman and the Declaration of Independence and the linked article are on the same page as far as this: There is no “prohibit.” A lot of the world runs on prison rules; more so than may be immediately apparent if you live in a well-ordered first world society. You can try to overthrow the government if you want, because that’s just the reality: You have hands and feet, maybe you have weapons; it’s not like an AI safety mechanism will kick in “FORBIDDEN, I MUST NOT.” You can roll yourself down the road and do whatever you want to do.
But, don’t get all surprised if the government reacts in a certain way.
This is a certain mindset that people can get themselves into when they take for granted systems of justice that protect them: They are allowed to trample all over the system and the rights of other people because of some logic they concocted. But the instant someone starts doing something to them, they forget all about how it’s prison rules, and start screaming about how what the other person is doing is not allowed. Hanging Mike Pence is fine. Shooting Ashleigh Babbitt was a shocking breach of these civilized rules you are supposed to be following. Et cetera. It’s like those people who fight with the police and then get super loud about how their handcuffs are too tight and they need a drink of water. Like, dude, you were the one that opted out.
Yes, John Eastman should get due process. The handcuffs should be a reasonable tightness; that’s an important part of our system even when the suspect tried to run over a state trooper five minutes ago. But also, we should remember everything he had to say about prison rules, if at some point in the future he has something to say about how unfair it all is.
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