Dennis Hackethal’s Blog

My blog about philosophy, coding, and anything else that interests me.

Tweets

An archive of my tweets and retweets through . They may be formatted slightly differently than on Twitter. API access has since gotten prohibitively expensive – I don't know whether or when I'll be able to update this archive.

But in case I will, you can subscribe via RSS – without a Twitter account. Rationale

@shabaadsha @MukariaK @ewarren

Why is what I have described not theft?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @Astro_Soichi:
あーたまーをくーもーの うーえにだーしー 朝陽を浴びる #富士山 Mt. #Fuji at sunrise https://t.co/l6HspPfisn

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@naparker @ewarren

Getting there:

In 2017, the top 1 percent of taxpayers accounted for more income taxes paid than the bottom 90 percent combined.

taxfoundation.org/summary-of-the….

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ewarren

Would it change anything if billionaire wealth had stayed the same, or even declined, if everyone else was still affected the same way they are now?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @OptimoPrincipi:
The huge marble quarries of Carrara, Italy were first opened by the Romans in the 2nd century BC, their highly prized s…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@shabaadsha @MukariaK @ewarren

To be clear, you think that when the government forcefully extracts money from you, whether you like it or not, that's not theft? Am I understanding you correctly?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@shabaadsha @MukariaK @ewarren

It couldn't be because I'm convinced that price controls and theft are wrong?

I'm not opposed to paying employees more, btw. I'm opposed to forcing employers to do so.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@shabaadsha @MukariaK @ewarren

They are taking it out of my pocket. Out of everyone’s who pays taxes.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Ra43926237 @ewarren

An income cap! Beautiful

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@bwolman @MukariaK @ewarren

I don’t need government handouts. But you probably consider those who do evidence of their stealing from the poor; and those who don’t as stealing from their employees. So what’s it matter?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Ra43926237 @Juicykisses95 @ewarren

Your “yet” implies a contradiction that isn’t there.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

All in the name of science and compassion, I'm sure. twitter.com/CFOBP/status/1…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @dchackethal:
@TheBabylonBee

"Scientists have followed the science very scientifically" :)

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ANothlich:
Deutschland 2021: Gesunde Menschen stehen Schlange vor Supermärkten, um herauszufinden, ob sie krank sind.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @gerda_alice:
Wer verbeitet mit? https://t.co/5DPt8RvWno

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@TheBabylonBee

"Scientists have followed the science very scientifically" :)

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @TheBabylonBee:
Estimated 9 Billion Already Dead From Texas Mask Mandate Reversal babylonbee.com/news/estimated…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Juicykisses95 @ewarren

No, it is the default state of nature, see the last paragraph in this section:

blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/libertar…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Juicykisses95 @ewarren

My response is that employers don’t do that. And that even if they did I wouldn’t get involved unsolicited.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@JRobertJohnson4 @ewarren

The founding fathers definitely didn’t envision government stealing from its citizens.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Juicykisses95 @ewarren

It’s not just semantics. You’re using words without knowing what they mean!

And I don’t get involved in what two consenting adults do unless I’m being specifically asked by one of them.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@JRobertJohnson4 @ewarren

Shouldn’t we leave that up to the entrepreneurs and their employees?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Juicykisses95 @ewarren

That still isn’t theft. It’s not cool but it’s not theft.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Juicykisses95 @ewarren

Behind what you’re saying are equivocations of the words “consent” and “force.”

And, if you can believe it, you’re not the first to argue that: blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/libertar…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MukariaK @ewarren

Because government does so by stealing. They’re parasitic.

The best they can do for everyone involved is to just stay out of it.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MukariaK @ewarren

“Great leaps forward”? Like Mao’s?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Juicykisses95 @ewarren

Theft is when ppl take money from others without consent.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Juicykisses95 @ewarren

It’s not theft because their employees consent to being employed. And the employees get paid. They don’t have to pay to work. And even if they did and they consented to that it’d still not be theft.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MukariaK @ewarren

Relieving them of theft does not imply a debt they owe to others. You can’t trade in one kind of theft for another.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Juicykisses95 @ewarren

What do you think theft is?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MukariaK @ewarren

No. And you don’t “fix the system” by instituting more theft. And the vast majority of successful people got to where they are because they meet a need people have. They provide value.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@EroticRaidBoss @KristyC6392 @ewarren

No.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@LoisPrew @ewarren

Who says I don’t appreciate my employees? Who says I even have any?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@AbbasAmjad7 @shujolnyc @ewarren

And no, you did not answer my questions.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@AbbasAmjad7 @shujolnyc @ewarren

What is theft is forcefully taking money from peaceful people, including entrepreneurs, whatever the purpose of that might be (including subsidizing of wages).

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@AbbasAmjad7 @shujolnyc @ewarren

I did not say that paying people a living wage is theft. There are plenty of ways to do that that don’t involve theft.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@AbbasAmjad7 @shujolnyc @ewarren

Can you take a step back and answer my questions? They weren’t rhetorical.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@AbbasAmjad7 @shujolnyc @ewarren

If somebody (not the government) took money from you at the threat of violence and used it to subsidize somebody else's wage, would that not be theft?

Does it even matter what that somebody uses the money for in your determination of that?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@KristyC6392 @ewarren

Nothing in my tweet suggests that I support slave labor or that I'm entitled. Why do you jump to such conclusions? Can you interpret my tweet more charitably so that you know what I might really be in favor of?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@AbbasAmjad7 @shujolnyc @ewarren

I was thinking of her plans for a wealth tax when I wrote that. But yes, in a way, minimum wage is theft, too—albeit a more metaphorical kind—since the government extorts money from businesses at the threat of punishment to increase payments to employees.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ewarren

And you want to counter that by rigging the system more by institutionalizing more theft from successful people?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Es freut mich, dass sich nicht alle diesem Unsinn fuegen – vor allem in akademischen Bereichen, wo sich solche Meme wie das "Gendern" ja bekanntlich wie ein Lauffeuer ausbreiten.

(Ich bezweifle uebrigens, dass Kraemer den Tweet selbst verfasst hat.) twitter.com/Pertsch/status…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ewarren

At whose expense?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Dagobert95 @GermanAtPompey

Das ist keine schlechte Idee. Man könnte auch Nachrichten von denen filtern, die ihre Pronomen im Namen stehen haben.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@DieRaffa @TextSkizzen

Männerfeindlich ist es zwar nicht, aber höchst albern und prätentiös.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Stumbled upon this neat comment on my talk I recently gave at the @OxfordPopper society that made my day:

youtube.com/watch?v=RH1cyC… https://t.co/bWra9VcdHZ

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

“[...] sponsored by  a realtor with no technology experience [...]”

Idiot lawmakers twitter.com/daringfireball…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @RichardDawkins:
New Rule: Cancel Culture is Over Party | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) youtu.be/gmXTUSP9a9M via @YouTube

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ThomasEWoods

So what explains the difference? Majority of regular flus being misdiagnosed as COVID?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@pnjaban

Location, location, location ;-)

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @HowardSteen4:
Whoa...superspreaders of common sense. The Dutch and the Austrians have got Germany almost surrounded. Classic pincer tac…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Sounds to me like his Sunday School teacher gave him some pretty shitty advice. God forbid he should have made even more progress! twitter.com/ChrisJBakke/st…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @Astro_Soichi:
まちのあかりが とてもきれいね #首都圏 #Tokyo and #Yokohama #Japan https://t.co/4j1lB1RkEw

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @Astro_Soichi:
#きょうのバジル 16日目。真ん中のバジルも背が伸びてきたね。 #SpaceBasil Day16 https://t.co/74ZNowi4nh

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

They had it going on back then. twitter.com/CerebralWisdom…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@_Islamicat

Ginger on black violence

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @ClimateWarrior7:
Brits: remember you need a reasonable excuse to go outside.

"I like the light of our sun" or "I just wanted to see th…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@UlrikeHeiss

Ich nicht.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Apollona1337 @UlrikeHeiss

Hat sie bestimmt noch nie gehört.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

RT @RubinReport:
BREAKING: Young children sitting in dystopian plastic dividers get lectured by authoritarian millionaire poser pretending…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@IamtheWay13

Yes. And your tweets helps those who are opposed to regulations understand those in favor better.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@reason_wit_me

Yes, and we're only beginning to see the damage it's doing.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@azme13

Personal responsibility increases without mandates. When forced, people cannot possibly take responsibility because they have no choice in the matter. They can only point fingers to the government: "well he told me to!" Responsibility is impossible without freedom.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

“Removing statewide mandates does not end personal responsibility.” Exactly.

Good for Texas. twitter.com/AP/status/1366…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Your tax dollars at work. twitter.com/realchrisrufo/…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@RoxxJen @JaCisar @dbasch @paulg

Correct, he probably pays much more. And if he found a way not to: good for him.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@TextSkizzen

Auch: “recht haben” (nicht “Recht haben”)

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@_Islamicat

White on black violence.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@FallingIntoFilm @ella_hoeppner

It's conceivable that not just the constants but also the structure of physical laws are (or seem) finely tuned.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Setsuna7 @NASAPersevere @HiRISE

Me, of course. I meant we will be there in person, standing on the surface.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@FallingIntoFilm @ella_hoeppner

Same laws of physics with different constants are different laws of physics. I think DD writes something to that effect somewhere in BoI.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ChrisArter

Pursuing what's fun.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@NASAPersevere @HiRISE

One day we will see that with our own eyes.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@matt_rambling @paulg

Some. How many more buildings would be built, and how much more would the real-estate market be thriving, if property tax didn't exist?

You're suggesting in effect that since property tax hasn't completely decimated the real-estate market it's not doing any damage.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@RoxxJen @dbasch @paulg

In effect, government is taking out a loan in their citizens' name and then threatening them with violence to pay it back. And charging interest, too. Even if the citizens never wanted the loan in the first place.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@RoxxJen @dbasch @paulg

The government provides certain services. That is correct. But once certain laws are passed, citizens do not have a say in whether to pay for those services. So they can't be responsible to "taking" something that was just given to them without them asking for it.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner

When you encounter someone on the street and you have the power to kill him, do you think it would be okay to do so if you don't know what his preferences are?

What if, instead of a random stranger, it was your child?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner

Yes, true, the laws of physics are the same across the multiverse.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner

No precautions for the world's safety because none are needed. The primary "precaution" (postcaution?) is that of being prepared never to turn the AGI off again without its consent.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner

That said, I think Deutsch says somewhere that the multiverse does provide a measure. I may be wrong, though.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner

But how one could know that they're all within a narrow range, I do not know. Especially since there are so many possible combinations of constants in different ranges that might all lend themselves to apparently finely tuned phenomena.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner

One could fix it by saying that while there are infinitely many laws of physics that allow life, they're all within some narrow range of possible values for constants. Then there'd be fine-tuning again.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner

Isn't that the thing where we don't have a measure for that? To say "comparatively"? Since there are infinitely many laws of physics that would result in both.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ella_hoeppner

Hmmm... then, presumably, that universe would end up with one giant black hole after a while, since all the other holes would attract each other, and if anyone were there to see it, he'd marvel at how the laws of physics were so finely tuned as to create this one giant black hole

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@bnielson01

I recall, but I don't recall him saying anything about whether there could be any universes in which the laws of physics don't seem finely tuned. Or maybe I missed something.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ewarren @PramilaJayapal @RepBrendanBoyle

You're doing the thing again where you speak of "two cent" but mean "two percent." It's misleading and dishonest.

blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/wealth-t…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@ks445599

OK, if there are no possible universes from within which it would seem that the laws of physics aren't finely tuned, why is fine-tuning a problem?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

If not, why is fine tuning a problem?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

Question re fine tuning: are there any logically possible universes with different laws of physics from within which it wouldn't seem like the laws of physics are finely tuned?

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@DerSimonsen @TextSkizzen

Selbstverständlich. Im Singular auch.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@TextSkizzen

Oder einfach: Kolleg+•|:;$%inn{]en++. Da sollte sich wirklich jeder angesprochen fühlen.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@dbasch @paulg

Yes, because it also means that government theft compounds. “Giving back to society” is a very misleading description of what happens. Especially when one never took anything.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@paulg

Building on your post, I analyze a recent tweet of @ewarren : blog.dennishackethal.com/posts/wealth-t…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@Grund_gesetzt

Auf dem Bild werden Menschen buchstäblich mit Schafen verglichen!

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@zlb_digital @GermanAtPompey

Witzig, dass man früher “gesamt” mit zwei m schrieb.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

If true, the irony is, of course, that Biden is saying this to make government more authoritarian. twitter.com/hofrench/statu…

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

@MRicecooker @olivernmoody

Yup was gonna say the same thing.

@dchackethal · · Show · Open on Twitter

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