Frankie
—concerning Maduro’s kidnapping. I keep seeing criticisms aimed at the United States for eschewing morality in favor of the “might makes right” approach. If we—and, by “we”, I mean the government—can do it, then we’re justified in doing it.
Dr. Kaspar
It may feel uncomfortable [laughs], but I think that argument is sound. Power justifies itself. If one needs authority to justify something and one also needs to leverage power to maintain authority, then it sure seems like power can justify itself. If rights are given by the powerful state, then it sounds like the rights are made by said powerful state.
Are laws self-enforcing? Or does an agent leverage its power to enforce them?
In the same way that I said that one needs to leverage power to maintain authority.
Frankie
But is that good? Or moral?
Dr. Kaspar
For better or for worse, that doesn’t seem to matter too much. [laughs] Instead, I’d like to focus on a different question.
If might does make right, what could we do with that?
Following the same logic, playing the game by the same rules, one has the right to kidnap—or even murder—the current US president. If one can do it, then one may do it.
Really, in a sense, I think that might be tautologically true. Look at the action from the perspective of the future. If one did done something, then that one was allowed to do it—otherwise, that one wouldn’t have done it.
I am arguing this in the same way that I’d argue that laws don’t stop crime, laws are guidelines for imposing consequences on those who have committed crimes. Committed. The crime has already happened.
Sure, maybe we will find ourselves in a dystopia where consequences are imposed on those that even think of committing crimes, but that just means that such a thought is also a crime—one that has also already been committed. Maybe it only takes being a suspect, but that means that one has already been suspected.
Frankie
So that means I could, um [laughs], murder the president. Because, if I did so, then that implies that I could have done so. Because I did do so.
I guess what actually feels unfair is that I feel pretty confident that I’d face a lot of consequences for doing so—while it seems like the government will continue to avoid accountability.
Dr. Kaspar
Because we—the general “we”—aren’t holding them accountable.
Murdering the president would impose consequences. Then, some other agent could impose consequences on the murderer. Then, still, some other individual could murder said agent, imposing consequences. And then it could—
Frankie
Continue on like that forever. [groans] Awesome.
[sarcastically] I’m so glad to be alive.
Dr. Kaspar
Are you?
Frankie
[laughs] No. Not really, no.
Signal lost.