All police are racist murderers so only they should own guns. Trump is Hitler so we should give him power to define and ban “offensive” speech. America savagely abuses immigrants from Latin America and the Middle East so we need to bring in as many as possible.
Though he is only seeking to translate the thoughts of Chesterton for a modern audience, this is a brilliantly keen insight in surprisingly few words. Along these same lines, Trump is a fascist who suggested he should be president for life but citizens should be deprived of guns. Not surprisingly, this all reminded me of Chesterton's Fence. A reformer sees something that appears to have no purpose and wants it removed. Chesterton replies:
If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it
G.K. Chesterton, The Thing
Laws and traditions have been adopted over the centuries and the problems that they solved are often inscrutable to modern people. However, once the law or tradition is repealed or ignored, the problems it addressed are likely to return. Do not lightly overturn what your predecessors have wrought unless you clearly understand why it was done and the consequences of removal.
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