• AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Ask Chimpanzees, Orcas, Elephants, or many other advanced natural societies that have evolved over the last few million years. They absolutely have a definition of crimes that they will punish if their members engage in those behaviors. Shunning would be the least brutal of their punishments. Capital punishment is far more prevalent.

    • TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Those animal crimes are still socially constructed among those various species! Social construct means some thing or dynamic or situation that is created through interaction between numerous actors rather than something extant in the physical world.

      • WhyDoesntThisThingWork@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Which is why it’s dumb to try to negate a thing like crime by saying it’s a social construct. The language we are using to talk about it being a social construct is a social construct. Literally YOU are a social construct, but here you are, worried about “wage theft” which is also a social construct. So do things being a social construct matter or not because if not, lets stop trying to negate anything we don’t like by calling it a social construct, and if so lets apply it evenly and take it to it’s logical conclusion. I would say “reject modernity, embrace monkee” but rejection, modernity, embracement, and monkee are all social constructs.

        • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The point of saying that something is a social construct is to show that it isn’t some immutable requirement of nature. It’s something we decided to do, and most importantly, could decide to do differently if we all just pulled our heads out of our asses. It’s the reply to people who say “it’s always been that way” and look at you like you are crazy for suggesting we do something different.

        • TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Who is trying to “negate” anything??? I am SO fucking sick of people misunderstanding social constructs. Literally EVERY TIME it’s mentioned, someone assumes that a thing being a social construct means we should erase it. That’s NOT what we’re saying. We’re saying it can be changed. It’s honestly a really trite point, duh laws can change, but whatever. It’s still a social construct and it’s frustrating seeing people argue that it’s not. People need to learn the shit you’re complaining about before you complain about it.

          I’m sorry this comment is far more rude than my previous one but I just woke up and haven’t drank my patience juice yet

          • WhyDoesntThisThingWork@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Literally EVERY TIME it’s mentioned, someone assumes that a thing being a social construct means we should erase it.

            That’s because that’s EXACTLY how you make it sound.