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PaperclipPerfector  11mo ago (text post)   27236 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 11, 2023

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  1. If he does not have evidence for his claim, then he should not be making that claim
  2. If what you say is true, then it is even harder to prove that it is not happening, right?
  3. It is exceptionally easy to find out what is happening in schools: Ask students.

And, let me see if I understand your position: Because schools (supposedly, based on "what [you] heard") block public scrutiny, those very same schools get a pass re proving that restricting the civil liberties of their employees is justified?

And, let me see if I understand your position

You didn't. I used to do the 00's era Skeptic "where is the evidence?" thing to, and my point is that demanding evidence for things where no one has a way to collect it makes no sense. You can have a perfectly normal conversation based on each person's personal experience, where you accept nothing is going to be conclusively proven, but you're acting like you want to have it both way - demand hard evidence for anyone contradicting you, while relying on personal experience when putting forward your ideas.

demanding evidence for things where no one has a way to collect it makes no sense.

Yes, it does, because we are talking about policy, not about personal experience. That was OP's claim: it was about what policy schools should enact. I am saying that, if a state entity is to enact a policy that limit sthe civil liberties of individuals, such as the policy advocated by OP, it has the burden of showing that those limits are necessary.

"Talking about policy" doesn't magically make evidence more accessible, so this is irrelevant to my argument.

If we were following what you propose here, the burden of proof would be on you. Since the policy you prefer is already enacted, and policy should be based on evidence, presumably the evidence the policy is based on, is published somewhere, right?

if a state entity is to enact a policy that limit sthe civil liberties of individuals, such as the policy advocated by OP

I don't see how the policy he's proposing is not limiting anyone's civil liberties.

We are talking about limiting the free expression rights of public employees in the workplace. That might not be the most weighty of civil liberties, but it is not zero. Whether the First Amendment protects that right under current jurisprudence is separate question.

That might not be the most weighty of civil liberties, but it is not zero. Whether the First Amendment protects that right under current jurisprudence is separate question.

Not really, particularly if you're relying on these two things to make the argument that the burden of proof is on him.

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