Free speech Fabian has a negative association with the cops and wants them to be kept out of it, but I keep thinking about the principle of a state monopoly on violence. Like, absolutely you should talk it out and try to come to an understanding as individuals. But if someone says, I'm not moving unless you force me to, then the cops are the correct people to bring in to force them to move. And they are much preferable to vigilantism or trying to remove them yourself.
Good exercise but practically no one’s opinion on this is untainted by their object-level opinions on what the protests are about. Those who see Israel as doing something reprehensible to the Palestinians today with American backing are not going to be interested in the finer nuances you bring up here; likewise with those who think Israel is just doing what it must to protect itself.
You might be right that most people have fallen into that trap but they certainly are separable. I’ll tell you where my biases creep in (and I think justifiably so): that the content of these protests could not be more reprehensible . And it’s very hard for me to believe anyone (on the left or right) would defend a group of white kids not just protesting an ideology like Black Lives Matter but also repeatedly defaming everyone on campus who associates with it, blocking entrance etc. so yes given that, I find it very hard to just stick to principled arguments but those arguments seem more than sufficient to address the claim that these protests should have been met with 0 retaliation from the administration. It defies basic game theoretic considerations.
I agree that one’s opinions on the protestors’ actions, the university response & police actions should be divorced from their opinions on what the protests are about. I’m just saying most people not only don’t separate these, they would view the idea of doing so as a betrayal to the real issue at hand.
Personally I think the Palestinian death toll is horrible and this gives me a lot of sympathy for the protestors, even if I agree that some arrests are warranted.
Free speech Fabian has a negative association with the cops and wants them to be kept out of it, but I keep thinking about the principle of a state monopoly on violence. Like, absolutely you should talk it out and try to come to an understanding as individuals. But if someone says, I'm not moving unless you force me to, then the cops are the correct people to bring in to force them to move. And they are much preferable to vigilantism or trying to remove them yourself.
Good exercise but practically no one’s opinion on this is untainted by their object-level opinions on what the protests are about. Those who see Israel as doing something reprehensible to the Palestinians today with American backing are not going to be interested in the finer nuances you bring up here; likewise with those who think Israel is just doing what it must to protect itself.
You might be right that most people have fallen into that trap but they certainly are separable. I’ll tell you where my biases creep in (and I think justifiably so): that the content of these protests could not be more reprehensible . And it’s very hard for me to believe anyone (on the left or right) would defend a group of white kids not just protesting an ideology like Black Lives Matter but also repeatedly defaming everyone on campus who associates with it, blocking entrance etc. so yes given that, I find it very hard to just stick to principled arguments but those arguments seem more than sufficient to address the claim that these protests should have been met with 0 retaliation from the administration. It defies basic game theoretic considerations.
I agree that one’s opinions on the protestors’ actions, the university response & police actions should be divorced from their opinions on what the protests are about. I’m just saying most people not only don’t separate these, they would view the idea of doing so as a betrayal to the real issue at hand.
Personally I think the Palestinian death toll is horrible and this gives me a lot of sympathy for the protestors, even if I agree that some arrests are warranted.