It is funny to hear the self-identified champion for Trump complain about the nefarious consequences of excessive litigation.

I take that as a quip at the US. Having said that, I think you are right that some Americans are more fearful and paranoid than other nations. Yeah, just another stereotype; but, it rings true to me.

What do you think? — Shawn

No, I meant it as a general, mildly hyperbolic, observation. I think News Limited's approach and the way the news cycle works has helped foster this addiction to catastrophe.

Again, it seems like America is the way it is because of competitiveness and with that its most cherished activity being capitalism. Would you agree with my assumptions here? — Shawn

In this instance, unreservedly.
There is some very bad weather in the USA and more of it coming this way. Not just from the capitalist winner-loser mindset, but from the culture of confrontation.

Just a belated note on courtesy. I suspect there is a divide between big city behaviour and rural behaviour. As an old person in our smallish city beyond commuter range of a big one, I don't feel ignored or sidelined. Sure, the adolescents on the street are lost in their phones and oblivious to anyone outside their tribe, but young adults are invariably polite. At the hardware or feed store, someone always offers to carry my heavier purchases to to the car. They open doors, reach items off high shelves and even go around the other way without comment if two old women (not me!) block the isle chatting or deciding what they want.
(Besides, I like their colourful tattoos and funky hair and their optimism.)

The concept of bona fide, which is sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest in interactions, still exist in society and human interactions? — Shawn

The Olympics?

hat's not the point I am attempting to make. Let me clarify, with the sentiments of Thrasymachus, all the way back to Ancient Greece, which Socrates could not handle and Plato had no answer, then we are still witnessing his thoughts played out in the chain of history. People say we might find salvation in technology; but, just take a look at what the atomic bomb did to end the axis of evil, and even then it was utilized as a demonstration of strength or power against a foe that was on the verge of defeat. — Shawn

Hah! You've done your homework!

There was, indeed, a fair and honest interaction in carrying out the ancient wars. Believe it or not, there were messengers who would rush to the enemy's camp to deliver the itinerary of the other army. The act of war was not played out using tricks and cunning. Instead, it's brute strength and perseverance. If your army had managed to reach the agreed upon venue, it was because your soldiers were fit and determined. Maybe you used some elephants to carry the goods. Maybe you carried enough food. Maybe you studied the terrain and avoided steep mountains in favor of long distance flats. Whatever it is, both camps never used the element of surprise to trap the enemy or catch them off-guard.

So, I believe that throughout history people have every right to be paranoid or skeptical. — Shawn

Yes, I'm not going to argue against that, except to note that in the derogatory sense, paranoia is a mental condition that entails some disconnection from reality - not a rights issue. Because we absolutely need to trust others every day to conduct our lives, and because we know that there are bad actors, trust goes along with distrust, and is never absolute, after infancy.

But I maintain that bona fide, as honesty and trust, is what makes any cooperation at all possible; without it, the individual is completely isolated and communication is impossible. even deceit becomes impossible because no one is listening, except for the physical deceits of feints and camouflage, etc.

And the solitary man does not survive.

Well if its the law that gets into the way of good moral conduct, then at least it prevents as its primary goal, the reduction of corruption. I think that having the law prevent dictatorships or autocracies from forming is a good thing. Take for example with what happened fairly recently in Poland with the Law and Justice party, perverting the law towards their own favor, and the Civic Coalition resuming power after a long eight years of some nepotism. I believe Viktor Orban is next, in Hungary.

During the covid fiasco I can’t think of any law that prevented tyranny and despotism. Rather, through the dictate of those who thought they knew better, it was used to prevent people from the most innocent of social activities, like going to church and visiting loved ones. Such an event proves that even in the most liberal societies the law will be turned against the people should it suit the authorities.

At any rate, good faith (and manners in general) is a kind of law in itself. But it can only be self-imposed. As such, to implement it one must be somewhat independent, self-reliant, his own authority, and this is a difficult spirit to foster in such a paternalistic system as the republican one.

It is funny to hear the self-identified champion for Trump complain about the nefarious consequences of excessive litigation.

That your good faith is so quick to disappear in a thread on good faith is disappointing, but kind of proves the point.

During the covid fiasco I can’t think of any law that prevented tyranny and despotism. Rather, through the dictate of those who thought they knew better, it was used to prevent people from the most innocent of social activities, like going to church and visiting loved ones. Such an event proves that even in the most liberal societies the law will be turned against the people should it suit the authorities. — NOS4A2

How is protecting the people from their own and their neighbours' stupidity turning against them? How does it "suit the authorities" to lose revenue while they're having to expend enormous resources on saving people's lives?

At any rate, good faith (and manners in general) is a kind of law in itself. But it can only be self-imposed. As such, to implement it one must be somewhat independent, self-reliant, — NOS4A2

Like those who pre-empt or voluntarily comply with medical advice during epidemics?

That your good faith is so quick to disappear in a thread on good faith is disappointing, but kind of proves the point. — NOS4A2

Expressing amusement at a second face is not a breach of faith.

How is protecting the people from their own and their neighbours' stupidity turning against them? How does it "suit the authorities" to lose revenue while they're having to expend enormous resources on saving people's lives? — Vera Mont

Conspiracy theories rarely consider such variables