re: #342 prononymous

I don’t feel that one should argue against an idea or policy based on who they are. Your argument against should rest on the merits of their actual argument.

But I reject that we can’t determine intent and motivations. We can’t determine intent for certain without some sort of brain scanner. But we can certainly observe actions in context of the past. Right now the intent, whoever is doing it, seems to be to cut infectious disease programs to the poor.

We can determine intent and motivations, you’re right. And saying that half of our government is more interested in harming the poor than making significant budget cuts strikes me as mean-spirited.

It is one thing to say “i don’t think X cares enough about the effect this will have on the poor”. It is quite another to say “i think that X intends to harm the poor”.