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sapinker's profile
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Verified account
@sapinker

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Steven PinkerVerified account

@sapinker

Cognitive scientist at Harvard.

Boston, MA
pinker.wjh.harvard.edu
Joined January 2010

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    Steven Pinker‏Verified account @sapinker 5 Oct 2017

    Guns Aren’t a Bulwark Against Tyranny. The Rule of Law Is.https://nyti.ms/2fNGvJz 

    12:51 PM - 5 Oct 2017
    • 171 Retweets
    • 431 Likes
    • Kevin Schawinski Casey Artner Oscar Palma Oliver Scott Curry Stephen Olivier Maharetina 🇪🇺 Erline Andrews Joe Nommensen SamWatkins
    70 replies 171 retweets 431 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Geoffrey Miller‏Verified account @primalpoly 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Which would a tyrant rather face? 320m people with no guns, or 320m people with 300m guns? Which would their soldiers pacify more easily?

        15 replies 3 retweets 49 likes
      3. 1 more reply
      1. New conversation
      2. David Deutsch‏ @DavidDeutschOxf 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        But that, in turn, depends on a political tradition embodying a certain conception of a citizen.

        1 reply 0 retweets 12 likes
      3. Snorey Dude‏ @snoreydude 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @DavidDeutschOxf @sapinker

        Does the "certain conception of a citizen" relate to guns?

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      4. David Deutsch‏ @DavidDeutschOxf 6 Oct 2017
        Replying to @snoreydude @sapinker

        Yes. One aspect of the US conception is: government and governed are the same type of person. Same rights, subject to the same laws.

        2 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      5. Snorey Dude‏ @snoreydude 6 Oct 2017
        Replying to @DavidDeutschOxf @sapinker

        The government can print money, unlike the governed. Seems there are many examples where they are fundamentally different

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      6. David Deutsch‏ @DavidDeutschOxf 6 Oct 2017
        Replying to @snoreydude @sapinker

        As I said, traditions, not a priori principles, determine whether there is rule of law etc.

        2 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
      7. David Deutsch‏ @DavidDeutschOxf 6 Oct 2017
        Replying to @DavidDeutschOxf @snoreydude @sapinker

        Whether e.g. the police, or the President, are regarded by tradition as government or citizens, deeply affects the nature of society.

        0 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
      8. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Paul Roundy‏ @PaulRoundy1 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Agree w/ many points, but their argument that ~100 mill armed Americans is not a bulwark against tyranny does not account for their numbers.

        1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
      3. Paul Roundy‏ @PaulRoundy1 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @PaulRoundy1 @sapinker

        That's not the same as the government operating against local micro groups. Conquering an armed public orders of mag bigger problem.

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      4. Paul Roundy‏ @PaulRoundy1 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @PaulRoundy1 @sapinker

        How long it takes modern military to complete siege of ISIS held cities makes good illustration of the problem.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      5. End of conversation
      1. jotego‏ @topapate 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        I’d like to see you defend the Rule of Law in Spain to defeat the coup d’etat of the Catalonian separatist party.

        0 replies 1 retweet 2 likes
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      1. Tom Keller‏ @timrinaldo 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        When I was in Vietnam, I was forced to see that civilians with guns defeated the world’s mightiest military

        0 replies 0 retweets 5 likes
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      1. Thom Hansen‏ @Thom_Hansen_ 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        The rule of law is a social construct that has meaning only when it can be backed up by force. That is where the guns come in...

        0 replies 1 retweet 1 like
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      1. Richard Wolfli‏ @fastfish3 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker @_Four_Horsemen

        BS. The laws of Venezuela and Russia (just to name a few) sure did a good job of keeping the Tyrants out of power.

        0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
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      1. Venant‏ @VenantDeserod 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Law didn't save the over 200 million people killed by their own governments in the last century.

        0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
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      1. Jeff‏ @jeffmorello 6 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        A government that knows it is accountable to it's citizens is the bulwark against tyranny.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. Zed Barnes‏ @sabiosuelto 6 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker @charleendadams

        Depends who's making the laws, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Saddamt?

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. Bizmarc‏ @bizmarcgames 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Sorry but law does not stop democracies becoming tyrannical. Nothing does, an armed populous just makes it more difficult.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. Britt Kim‏ @okayplanet 5 Oct 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        This is sloppy usage of data. I am not against gun control, but some of the points are clear cases of mere correlation, no causation.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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