what does it really mean to say somebody deserves something if there’s no social infrastructure in place to actually help them get it
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in the dualist trap of the spectrum of "deserving", things are plotted on a range from "deserve X" to "do not deserve X"
you counter the perception of "i don't have it because i don't deserve it" by saying that someone "deserves" it
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personally i agree with validation of struggle
but i've seen sometimes used more strongly as "if someone deserves something and someone in some position of power does not help accomplish this, that's a moral failure for that person in power", i.e. power OWES it to them
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noblesse oblige
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it feels like complaining to god about lack of god "oh why have you forsaken me/that-person"
which justifies breaking more and more (moral) tethers in service of the goal
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Somebody somewhere, maybe the government or wider society at large, owes that person that thing.
Or a consequentialist take: the world would be better off on net if the deservee were given that thing
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Then it's just a platitude. We humans lie a lot, about a lot of things to absolve us of responsibility. The Bible discourages offering to pray, rather than actually act/do something (when we can help) This in effect, shifts blame to the invisible, when we are said infrastructure
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