What was the author's personal experience regarding pharmaceutical companies and doctors?
The author describes attending a trip sponsored by pharmaceutical companies where doctors were treated to luxury hotels and food to promote specific drugs. The author notes that while these trips were not prohibited at the time, they were corrupting, citing a professor known as the "Universal Prostitute" who would advocate for different drugs depending on who was paying him and eventually lost his medical license for corrupt, though not illegal, practices.
Q&A ID 7a885512-9913-4c44-a563-952b7665268f
What specific example is provided regarding Donald Trump Jr. to illustrate unseemliness?
The article mentions the wedding gift given to Donald Trump Jr. by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, an ally of Vladimir Putin. While the author notes that Trump is a private citizen and can legally accept gifts, he characterizes the proceeding as unseemly.
Q&A ID b7e47d65-9c21-4eba-a3a5-b2fabea65445
How does the author characterize the relationship between rules and propriety?
The author suggests that where rules are the sole determinant of propriety, people tend to do whatever they can get away with. This behavior creates an increasing need for more rules, leading to a cycle of social disorder and bureaucratic control.
Q&A ID 96e90ee8-7564-4e3f-912f-063bf60e8906
What does the author suggest is the consequence of interpreting freedom solely as a lack of prohibition?
The author argues that interpreting freedom simply as a lack of prohibition leads almost inevitably to ever more prohibition, creating a dialectic between social disorder and bureaucratic control where moral anarchy coexists with moral dictatorship.
Q&A ID 5dd8f9bb-8407-4b24-abb0-c4ac666a6d46
According to the article, what happens to society when "obedience to the unenforceable" is lost?
When these self-imposed standards fall by the wayside, the author predicts that both disorder and tyranny will take their place. The author argues that without these standards, society becomes a free-for-all dominated by psychopaths, and one person's exercise of freedom becomes a source of anxiety for others.
Q&A ID 4a146349-58e5-4802-bc3e-3980d0a5286b
What is the concept of "obedience to the unenforceable" as defined by Lord Moulton?
Coined by the English judge Lord Moulton more than a century ago, "obedience to the unenforceable" refers to standards of behavior that are not enforced by law through prescription or proscription, but which individuals feel compelled to obey and enforce within themselves.
Q&A ID 7686e0ea-a5ec-4006-9cd0-b45f9012f41c