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ZankerH comments on Open Thread, Jul. 27 - Aug 02, 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 Post author: MrMind 27 July 2015 07:16AM

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Comment author: ZankerH 27 July 2015 06:30:21PM *  5 points [-]

International agreements really have reduced to near-zero the usage of chemical warfare and landmines.

And yet the international community has failed to persecute those responsible for the one recent case of a government using chemical warfare to murder its citizens en masse - Syria. Plenty of governments still maintain extensive stockpiles of chemical weapons. Given the enforcement track-record, I'd say given being put in a similar situation to the Syrian government, they're more likely to use similar or harsher measures in the future.

If you outlaw something and then fail to enforce the law, it isn't worth the paper it's written on. How do you think the ban on autonomous weapons will be enforced if the USA, China or Russia unilaterally break it? It won't be.

Comment author: satt 30 July 2015 11:44:09PM 0 points [-]

If you outlaw something and then fail to enforce the law, it isn't worth the paper it's written on.

This strikes me as...not obvious. In my country most rapes are not reported, let alone prosecuted, but that doesn't lead me to conclude that the law against rape "isn't worth the paper it's written on".

Comment author: VoiceOfRa 02 August 2015 07:57:04PM 4 points [-]

What is the source of that data? I ask because there is a lot of misleading and outright false data on rape rates floating about.

Comment author: gjm 02 August 2015 11:03:46PM 2 points [-]

The page at the far end of satt's link has, in addition to its presentation of the data, extensive information about the underlying numbers and where they all come from.