• MorPolitics
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    1 day ago

    What’s top of mind is Alexis de Tocqueville’s comparisons between the USA and France mentioned in Democracy in America. So I suppose a decent example, with caveats I’d probably have to mention if you were in a super debate-ty mood, would be an older version of the USA, prior to the Federal Reserve. The book is in the public domain btw - https://librivox.org/democracy-in-america-vol-i-by-alexis-de-tocqueville/

      • MorPolitics
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        7 hours ago

        Arguing against a specific idea, such as favoring voluntary associations, by bringing up slavery, which occurred during the same period when those associations were more prominent, is a goofy way to make a point. It would be analogous to arguing that the birth of the internet on January 1, 1983, was a bad thing because gay marriage was not legal at the time or because of some other unrelated thing during that time period.

        You appear to be arguing against the time period as a whole rather than addressing the specific policy I support. In other words, you have constructed a straw man argument.