I think this whole guilt business is useless. Heroic responsibility seems the correct way to deal with things.

"What are you going to do about it? That's the only question you get to answer."

If I look upon the world and see oppression and see that it is bad, I should see what I can do to make that situation better, see if it's an easier line of utility-creating than other plans, and then go about doing it.

Along the way I might consider the strategy of allocating guilt between myself and other people, but doing that, I really ought to understand that guilt is being used instrumentally to get people to do things, and is otherwise not interesting.

(this is more directed at the whole guilt discussion than specifically your comment)

Some of this is a disguised argument about the word "culpable." For basically everyone, there's always something more one could do to solve problem X. I don't claim that is a particularly insightful or compelling statement.

I think guilt trips are often (basically always) a tactical mistake. But this is particularly true when one's selection criteria for who to shame suggests that one is being disingenuous. Or that one picked the target first and the complaint second.

I honestly think that I want transformations just as radical as eridu in the area of social norms and gender. It turns out that I just have different terminal values. For the benefit of bystanders (such as yourself), I'm trying to make it clear that the degree of desired transformation is not determinative of the intended destination.

feelings of guilt will help to change the wrong society is committing more than their absence.

Sure, for some meaning of "guilt." If members of society don't think the current structure is wrong, why change it?

I have never behaved in the alleged patriarchal, controlling, caging, nefarious manners towards women which I am being accused of

No. By eridu's argument, this is a category error. Nothing about your behavior, beliefs etc. could have changed the fact that you are 'oppressing' people, for some meaning of 'oppression'. Your status as "patriarchal, controlling, caging, nefarious, etc." is simply ascribed, in a quasi-tautological way.

Yes, I do think this is "The Worst² Argument in the World". It basically amounts to dogma-based emotional manipulation.

No, TimS is asserting that you, and the rest of the humans, should feel guilty for living in a society where bad things systematically happen to people. This is at least in part because feeling guilty will motivate you to transform society into one in which those things don't happen.

Also, gender might be relevant somehow - I'm slightly unclear on that part.

Keeping in mind that my accusations and eridu's would differ - it is always the case that you could do more. As I said, this is not a particularly interesting or compelling argument.

Almost all social behaviors reinforce the social norms to some extent. Sort of like Eliezer's discussion of wearing the clown suit (which I can't find just this moment).

the verifiable (and falsifiable, I think) belief I hold that it is a fact that I have never behaved in the alleged patriarchal, controlling, caging, nefarious manners towards women which I am being accused of in higher parent comments, and that I have always done my best not to behave in such a manner and to behave in an optimal-expected-happiness manner that values happiness equally for all members of a relationship?

If you haven't read a lot of radical feminism and gone through a long process of unlearning patriarchy, I think I can provide evidence of your behaving in a way that perpetuates the patriarchy. To do this I'd have to watch you in person for a while, but if you want to answer this question without that happening, you can just read lots of feminism (even liberal feminism will work for this, I suggest starting with bell hooks and building up to some Dworkin) and reflect on your past behavior.

And yes, if you perpetuate the patriarchy, you should feel guilty. I might get to explain why later, but I'm getting downvoted so often that I can only respond once every few minutes, so you'll have to bear with me. If I do, it'll be higher in this thread.