AgusCahyo wrote:
Well, is government different than bandit?
Do we get to elect our bandits?
Do bandits use the funds they collect to pay for roads, schools, hospitals, emergency services, etc.?
I guess those would be some of the differences between a government and a bandit.
AgusCahyo wrote:
What's the difference between marriage and prostitution?
The prostitute leaves.
Oh, sorry, I thought you were asking for the punchline to an old joke.
I guess it comes down to: can you have sexless prostitution?
If you put a prostitute down as your emergency contact, will they actually respond when something happens to you and they're called?
Does a prostitute automatically get power of attorney over your affairs if you are incapacitated?
I guess those would be some of the differences between marriage and prostitution.
I would suggest that the difference is between nouns and verbs.
A rose is a noun. It's defined by what it is. It's an object which doesn't change if you call it something else.
By contrast, a government and a bandit are defined by what they do. They are verbs. A government governs, a bandit steals. If either stop doing what they're doing, they cease being what they were. If they exchange behaviors, each can become the other.
Nouns have a permanence, verbs are transitory.
I don't know how any of this relates to autism. I certainly don't think the western poem is any more (or less) autistic than the Chinese proverb.