I'm not actually disagreeing with anything you said above, but I have one quibble. You say but reciprocity is not really among them.
I have to believe there is some benefit to "the moral high ground" -- when it is legitimate.
Agreed -- we shouldn't not-torture to keep people from torturing us, as that MIGHT not work, But (1) if we do torture, doesn't that make it more likely that torture will be used against us in the future? and (2) I don't know how to phrase this, but nowadays when I hear the "we're the good guys, so by definition we can do no wrong, so how could you _think_ of ..." spiel, I just hope that people think I'm a Canadian. Basically, by applying torture, I think we've thrown away out "bitchin' rights" for the future.
Re: So how far down the slope do we become what we fight against?
Date: 2008-09-09 08:36 pm (UTC)I have to believe there is some benefit to "the moral high ground" -- when it is legitimate.
Agreed -- we shouldn't not-torture to keep people from torturing us, as that MIGHT not work,
But (1) if we do torture, doesn't that make it more likely that torture will be used against us in the future? and (2) I don't know how to phrase this, but nowadays when I hear the "we're the good guys, so by definition we can do no wrong, so how could you _think_ of ..." spiel, I just hope that people think I'm a Canadian. Basically, by applying torture, I think we've thrown away out "bitchin' rights" for the future.