WIST QuotationsAug 12

A quotation from Hannah Arendt

Moreover, if we look at the techniques of totalitarian government, it is obvious that the argument of “the lesser evil” — far from being raised only from the outside by those who do not belong to the ruling elite — is one of the mechanisms built into the machinery of terror and criminality. Acceptance of lesser evils is consciously used in conditioning the government officials as well

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/arendt-hannah/45667/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #arendt #suborning #acceptance #authoritarianism #compromise #conditioning #evil #government #lesserevil #lesseroftwoevils #propaganda #totalitarianism

WIST QuotationsAug 5

A quotation from Hannah Arendt

In their moral justification, the argument of the lesser evil has played a prominent role. If you are confronted with two evils, thus the argument runs, it is your duty to opt for the lesser one, whereas it is irresponsible to refuse to choose altogether. […] Politically, the weakness of the argument has always been that those who choose the lesser evil forget very quickly that they chose evil.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/arendt-hannah/45553/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #binary #brightline #choice #evil #goodandevil #lesserevil #lesseroftwoevils #morality #necessaryevil #rationalization #selfjustification

WIST QuotationsJul 7

A quotation from Mignon McLaughlin

We have to call it “freedom”: who’d die for “a lesser tyranny”?

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/mclaughlin-mignon/77…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #fighting #freedom #lesserevil #lesseroftwoevils #liberty #sacrifice #tyranny

Different ThanMay 28

I know it's just one corporate platform versus another, both hosted by legitimately yucky companies, but my job just switched to MS office from Google suite after 11 years. I used MS for several years at a previous job. I have a sense of relief. I never liked managing email, especially, with google. I never got to where I felt I could easily see what emails I had received in any organized way that worked for me.

Of course, I'd prefer not to be sunk into the AI/antiprivacy/educorporate swamp, but if I don't have a choice (I don't), MS feels like an improvement.

#google #microsoft #office #educorporate #privacy #lesserOfTwoEvils

WIST Quotations has moved!Jan 8

A quotation from Fuller, Thomas (1654):

«
Of two Evils, always chuse the least.
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/fuller-thomas-1654/74023/

#quote #quotes #quotation #alternatives #choice #consequence #lesserevil #lesseroftwoevils #preference

Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 15 (1725) - Fuller, Thomas (1654) | WIST Quotations

Of two Evils, always chuse the least. See Cicero, Thomas à Kempis, Spinoza.

WIST Quotations
WIST Quotations has moved!Nov 5, 2024

A quotation from Chomsky, Noam:

«
Another point of disagreement [over Lesser Evil Voting] is not factual but involves the ethical/moral principle […] sometimes referred to as the “politics of moral witness.” Generally associated with the religious left, secular leftists implicit.…
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/chomsky-noam/43802/

#quote #quotes #quotation #candidate #choice #consequences #election #evil #lesseroftwoevils #moralchoice #morality #responsibility #selfexpression #voting

"An Eight Point Brief for LEV (Lesser Evil Voting)" (2016-06-15) [with John Halle] - Chomsky, Noam | WIST Quotations Quotations

Another point of disagreement [over Lesser Evil Voting] is not factual but involves the ethical/moral principle [...] sometimes referred to as the "politics of moral witness." Generally associated with the religious left, secular leftists implicitly invoke it when they reject LEV on the grounds that "a lesser of two evils…

WIST Quotations
greywolfMar 16, 2024
@BritishTechGuru more often than not, we're left to choose between the #lesseroftwoevils.
Show threadDirty HippieMar 7, 2024
@DWTSquawk7600 @chris Without #RankedChoiceVoting/#InstantRunoffVoting, we will return to this same "win at the ballot box" by voting for the "#LesserOfTwoEvils" reality. Let's end that and restore #democracy. https://bit.ly/RCVProCon
Pros and Cons of Ranked-Choice Voting

Better understand the advantages of ranked-choice voting as well as critiques of the method.

Mast0b1tMar 6, 2024

@StillIRise1963

MH: There's a lot of apathy today. People don't want to go out and #vote.

HST: And why should they? I felt that way, and I didn't vote for #Clinton in '96. I voted for #RalphNader. There's a terrible danger in voting for the lesser of two evils because the parties can set it up that way.

https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/graffiti/hunter.htm

#politics #LesserofTwoEvils #HunterSThompson #TwoWingsOneParty #Democrats #Republicans #UnitedStates

Atlantic Unbound - Interview with Hunter S. Thompson

Atlantic Unbound's multimedia interview with Hunter S. Thompson, author of The Proud Highway, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hell's Angels

Mast0b1tMar 6, 2024

@StillIRise1963

“How many more of these stinking, double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national #election that will give me and the at least 20 million people I tend to agree with a chance to #vote FOR something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils?”

— #HunterSThompson, Fear and Loathing on the #Campaign Trail '72

#voting #lesseroftwoevils