05-20-2018, 12:00 AM
watergaze wrote:
Prompt: Does the government have your best interest at heart?
The gov has no clue what out best interest is, hence they cannot 'have' it anywhere
. But most people have no clue either, hence it might be easy to just buy into the idea that the government does 
This depends on our definition of "at heart". If you agree with what I wrote above that the government must not only be doing what's in our best interests but also doing it BECAUSE of that reason, then it's impossible for a government that doesn't know what's in our best interests to have them at heart. This is a little different than just asking if a government that doesn't know what our best interests are might be acting towards them, which is possible. Much like it's possible to not know which direction is East even while traveling in that direction.
But before we get to that point, you would need to provide evidence for your assertion that the government doesn't know what's in our best interests.
This is why I like starting with defining our terms. It makes everything that comes afterward so much easier than trying to define terms as you go along.
Prompt: Does the government have your best interest at heart?
The gov has no clue what out best interest is, hence they cannot 'have' it anywhere
. But most people have no clue either, hence it might be easy to just buy into the idea that the government does This depends on our definition of "at heart". If you agree with what I wrote above that the government must not only be doing what's in our best interests but also doing it BECAUSE of that reason, then it's impossible for a government that doesn't know what's in our best interests to have them at heart. This is a little different than just asking if a government that doesn't know what our best interests are might be acting towards them, which is possible. Much like it's possible to not know which direction is East even while traveling in that direction.
But before we get to that point, you would need to provide evidence for your assertion that the government doesn't know what's in our best interests.
This is why I like starting with defining our terms. It makes everything that comes afterward so much easier than trying to define terms as you go along.