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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   35891 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 3, 2022

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In high-trust societies you can sell vegetables with an honesty box for payment and expect most people will actually pay the right amount, despite there being effectively no chance of being caught if they don't.

Vs. A low trust society where stores put common household items behind glass due to how common shoplifting is. Just the other day I was buying a new phone and noticed all the displayed models were locked down so you couldn't interact with or examine them much. The salesman claims this was because too many people would snip the wire and steal the display phone. Frustrating.

What's absolutely wild is the extent to which these phenomena can co-exist in the same societies, even in the same neighborhoods at times. It turns out that no matter how many scumbags will steal razors from a convenient store, the same degenerates aren't really that into fresh vegetable heists.

Don’t speak too soon!

this is a tangent but your use of the word degenerate there gained my attention because it is usually used as a descriptor for people who engage in "hedonistic" behaviors, not those who violate property rights. so its a point of evidence for the claim that degenerate is often used as a slur against innocent people (say, strip club visitors).

Maybe part of that is that veggies are harder to stuff under a shirt.

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