my son rebuke me when I told him...

[katjust]

NOTE THE BOLD:
my son then replied "WHY DIDN"T YOU VOTE FOR AL GORE!!!! You could vote a better president in and you did not do it and your choice contributes to Al Gore losing, no matter how small the cumulative effect"

he just learned set theory in school. And he claims that I am in that subset of people that contributes to Al Gore lost. Is there a loop hole in set theory that we can exploit?

His entire argument is based on two very big assumptions. One is that Al Gore would have been a better president, which there is no real reason to believe. Another is an acceptance of consequentialist moral theory (so just tell him that you don't accept consequentialist ethics).

Besides, all that you have to say is that George Bush did not run on an interventionist foreign policy platform, so it would have been practically impossible to predict that he would have turned out any worse than Gore.

On the set theory thing, it is true that you are included in the set of people who didn't vote for Gore, but this is irrelevant. He's correct that you contributed to Al Gore losing, but since the practical effect of you having voted for Gore would have been the same, it does not seem that you bear any moral responsibility (even on his consequentialist assumption).

Finally, just say that you accept either a deontological and/or a virtue based theory of ethics (pick one or the other) where voting for an evil, even if it is the lesser of two evils, is morally forbidden.

 

[katjust]

Sounds like a red herring to me. It's like saying that was the only other option. I heard one guy pose that kind of argumentation like this:

Actually that's the fallacy of false dilemma, but you are correct there is definitely fallacious reasoning the son's argument.

 

[katjust]

There is a difference between being respected by force and being someone deserving of that respect. You are a dictator and no better than this Government which does the same exact thing. You have essentially declared Martial law against your kids and they have no say or any rights because they are too weak to stand up against you. Sound familiar?

I feel sorry for our country if this type of "i'm right because I say so" and "there is no discussion" is being taught to the next generation.

Children should not disrespect anyone(unless the parent/person is a jerk, then they are not deserving of respect, but the default should be respect.) However, it is not automatically disrespectful to disagree with a parent. It is simply disrespectful to do it in a certain way.

It is disrespectful to yell at a parent for sure. To have a different opinion and thoughtfully express it is not disrespectful (in my opinion).

If the son in this case was thoughtfully expressing an opinion and not yelling or doing it in a mean tone, then he was not being disrespectful. The son simply needs to be corrected for making such a bad argument.

 

[uncollapse]

His entire argument is based on two very big assumptions. One is that Al Gore would have been a better president, which there is no real reason to believe. Another is an acceptance of consequentialist moral theory (so just tell him that you don't accept consequentialist ethics).

Besides, all that you have to say is that George Bush did not run on an interventionist foreign policy platform, so it would have been practically impossible to predict that he would have turned out any worse than Gore.

On the set theory thing, it is true that you are included in the set of people who didn't vote for Gore, but this is irrelevant. He's correct that you contributed to Al Gore losing, but since the practical effect of you having voted for Gore would have been the same, it does not seem that you bear any moral responsibility (even on his consequentialist assumption).

Finally, just say that you accept either a deontological and/or a virtue based theory of ethics (pick one or the other) where voting for an evil, even if it is the lesser of two evils, is morally forbidden.

I like how you frame this within the philosophical context. I probably would not want to take the route of professing myself as a deontologist. It might have some future ramifications... i.e. my son would began to pigeon-hole me into this deontologist dos and don'ts. I prefer to just keep it real. And yes, i believe the assumption that Gore would be a better president is a reasonable one.

 

[uncollapse]

\\

 

[MGreen]

I for one think that, if Gore was elected, we wouldn't have been attacked on 9/11. Not because Gore would be a better president or anything (though maybe his people would have paid better attention to the warnings), but because I think the primary goal of the attack was to get us to occupy Iraq. They tried in 1993, after we left Iraq, but Clinton didn't go back in. Then, hey, the son of the guy that first sent troops to Iraq and was targeted by Saddam was made president. So they tried again.

But none of this can be proven, so it's all pretty irrelevant. For all we know, the US would have spontaneously combusted when Gore took the oath of office. Plus, one vote in a presidential election doesn't make a difference.

And you're not going to get us to vote for McCain.

 

[Ex Post Facto]

I voted for Perot, so idk what to say.

 

[ForLiberty-RonPaul]

A parent does not get rebuked by their child... it's actually called disrespect and it does not happen in my home.

i feel sorry for your home

 

[Rahl]

Tell him you couldn't vote for Gore after he supported the bombing of Yugoslavia, Bush ran on Ron Pauls platform of non nation building, therefore you voted and trusted Bush at that time.

Depending on how old your son is you can maybe start and try to educate him about how both sides are basically the same, putting a show up and fighting against each other but once their system is attacked they unite.

Tell him that "Global warming" can be seen on other planets in our solar system at the moment, does he think this is menmade ?

 

[rpfan2008]

Global Warming

Global carbon tax.. the end result of his inconvenient truth.

FYI there is something more here