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> If you don't have an answer to the question of why someone should have to pay again to use the Internet Of course I have an answer. To do something about the
by CPLX 3mo ago
> If you don't have an answer to the question of why someone should have to pay again to use the Internet
Of course I have an answer. To do something about the unlimited firehose of porn, violence, divisive, and addictive content that has been pointed at children for the past generation or so.
There's literally nothing confusing about the "why" in this discussion.
The fact that bad people use the "what about the children" argument regularly for bad reasons doesn't mean that all such arguments are bogus.
In fact, it's an indication of exactly the opposite, it's so regularly used because there is a broad consensus that we need to protect children from harm which is why it's often effective as an arguing tool.
The relevant frame for this discussion is will it actually work, and what are the tradeoffs. A trivially small amount of money for a simple age verification scheme isn't a particularly meaningful tradeoff against a genuine social problem. The bigger, more genuine issues are around privacy and censorship and I do in fact concede those are real.
- fluoridation 3mo ago>To do something about the unlimited firehose of porn, violence, divisive, and addictive content that has been pointed at children for the past generation or so. See, you've answered a different question. The question you answered is, "why should children be protected from the Internet?" I'll give you for free that children should be protected from the Internet, for the reasons you've said, and now you get to convince me that I, who don't have or plan to have children, should spend my money to protect other people's children from the Internet.
- CPLX 3mo ago> I, who don't have or plan to have children, should spend my money to protect other people's children from the Internet. For the same reason your taxes pay for schools even when you don't have kids. Because we live in a society. If you struggle to understand why that matters without reference to more direct personal stakes for yourself, just know that without a society, the children will grow up to rape you, kill you, and possibly consume you for your protein content.
- fluoridation 3mo ago>For the same reason your taxes pay for schools even when you don't have kids. But I have benefited from public education. Me paying for someone else's education in return is fair. >Because we live in a society. "Because we live in a society" is a phrase flexible enough that it can be used to justify anything, including outright theft: "we live in a society; us taking your stuff is the price you have been chosen to pay for your continued belonging". Want to try a little harder?
- CPLX 3mo agoYou have convinced me that there are in fact no differences between things, and that protecting children from adult content is indistinguishable from stealing from people, and therefore I was foolish to advocate for it. I stand humbly corrected.
- fluoridation 3mo agoI'm glad you've seen the error of your ways.
- intended 3mo agoGood God. After reading this thread - You are forced to pay to attest your age, because as a society we have decided not to, or are unable to, end social media firms and porn sites. At the same time, we have decided that the harms that occur to kids and teens need to be mitigated.
- fluoridation 3mo agoNo. My question was not why am I forced to pay, my question was why should I pay. Obviously if I have to pay, I will (that's a logical necessity, because if I could avoid it then it was untrue that I had to, to begin with). Why should I pay? That is to say, by what mechanism am I saddled with the moral responsibility that justifies me having to spend my money to protect someone else's children? Given your line of argumentation, I'm going to guess that you don't have an answer to this question; your answer is that I should GFMS and just pay. Prove me wrong.