Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by freewilly1040 2553 days ago
This is a very common rhetorical tactic for people who wish to advocate violence. Parent comment is not advocating violence by asking someone to commit a violent act, they are advocating violence by arguing that violence is reasonable / inevitable.
2 comments

Crime exists. I advocate that everyone apply whatever measures that fit within their means to ameliorate it, or avoid it altogether.

It applies on the small scale as easily as the grand. If you insult someone's mother, watch for and avoid the retaliatory punch. If you violate the privacy of a billion people, call them morons for trusting you, profit greatly from their personal information, and continue to demonstrate eroding ethics, then install a safe room in your house(s) and hire some bodyguards.

That said, individual violence is reasonable, after the non-violent and collectively-violent possibilities have been exhausted. There always has to be some way to effectively retaliate against anti-social behavior.

True, though I'd argue he doesn't need to use the rhetorical tactic. Tyrants invite violence implicitly when they exercise their power over the weak.