Every day, someone defends some action with the line “it’s for your own good.” Most acceptably, it’s parents telling their children that. To some extent, that’s part of being a parent. Children often don’t understand the consequences of their actions, and as parents, it’s up to us to protect them. No one argues this point at all.
But on an internet discussion about Social Security, I was told the exact same thing by someone who didn’t understand that I’d like to be able to opt out of the program. I was told that there was no way to opt out, because of people like me would opt out and then be broke because I had nothing coming in. To me, this is the worst kind of fallacy I’ve come across…because it doesn’t take a lot of things into account. Continue reading But it’s for your own good
