
How Banks Unwittingly Finance Mass Shootings - malshe
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/24/business/dealbook/mass-shootings-credit-cards.html
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mises
But what do you want them to do? Have we lost the idea of consumer privacy? I
know several people who have decided to prep for doomsday, often equipping a
ranch with weapons. That shouldn't get you put on a watchlist. Or what if
someone wants to purchase firearms before laws change? I know others who have
done just that. Gun debates aside, should we really give the government
influence over what we should and should not consume? Utah passed laws against
certain explicit content, and this rationale was used to protest; why not
here?

One of the best pieces of advice I got concerning terrorism was not to be too
afraid. If we live in fear, we let the terrorists win. And if we give the
government many powers to "fix it", then, as devs like to say, now we have two
problems. Remember, what powers you give "your side" to fix a problem can then
be abused by the "other side" when they get their turn.

I'm always open to solutions for such terrible problems as mass shootings. But
curtailing individual liberty means that the terrorists win. Look at Xinjiang:
that is where we are headed in 20 years. The only way to completely prevent
terrorism is to lock down every aspect of every life. Hence Xinjiang. The
question is simply how slowly our politicians will try to force this upon us.

It is for all these reasons that the idea of "reporting suspicious behavior"
bothers me. It is a perfect lever that will inevitably be used to political
means or to settle grudges. It enables the use of the police as a club; think
"swatting" but worse. Please don't support this sort of nonsense.

