AGC said:
LOYAL AG said:
AGC said:
LOYAL AG said:
Kvetch said:
LOYAL AG said:
Ag with kids said:
AGC said:
Teslag said:
People can responsible use drugs. See all the high end bourbon drinkers on the outdoors board.
Are those the ones going to jail for drug crimes like you said? Or are you moving the goalposts?
Well, bourbon is not illegal...so...
And here's the crux of the matter. 100 years ago you'd be ok with jailing people that today you are fine with them being free. The Rebecca Creek I had tonight isn't any different than the bourbon our great grandparents would have been arrested for during prohibition yet because some Karen decided she knew better 100 years ago it was illegal. When is it ok for a person to make their own decisions in their own home? Or is it?
And just like society had the political decision available to outlaw alcohol and then reverse course, the people have the ability to decide whether illicit acts or substances should be banned in society. Your premise that individuals have the right to do anything they want as long as it doesn't have a direct and immediate impact on others is absurd and frankly childish. A just society has the moral authority to ban things that are identified as bad for the individual based on the understanding that the individual is a part of the society. You are not an island unto yourself, and you don't have the right to do whatever your heart desires.
You have the liberty and freedom to do what you ought to. Not what you want to.
That's fair and I appreciate the lack of emotion in that post. My biggest frustration with both major parties the emotional attachment to banning unwanted behavior without even a hint of acknowledgement that those bans aren't actually accomplishing anything and in fact may be making things worse. At some point don't we have to admit we can't prevent these things from happening and focus on the things we can prevent? Then we have the whole issue of unintended consequences such as human trafficking that springs up in the wake of prostitution being illegal.
I'm extremely libertarian despite the fact I live a very conservative life. I barely drink, like 2-3 drinks a month and rarely away from home. I've never been drunk and I've never used anything stronger that bourbon. So why am I libertarian? Because I don't trust you. I don't even know you so why trust you? You want to use government to tell me what I can and can't do and I'm not ok with that.
Then I get back to what actually works. Bans are like war plans. They're the first things tossed aside when the bullets start flying. I'd like to think we can come up with something that actually works to address the very real crime of trafficking women and children and frankly I don't care about prostitution as long as she's there voluntarily. I like solutions and bans are nearly 100% of the time things that change the problem but don't solve anything.
My $.02. Good discussion finally now that we've tossed aside the emotion.
How do you reconcile this lack of trust with the complete freedom of individual choice you allow? If you don't trust others why let them do anything they want in the privacy of their homes and assume it won't go anywhere else? That they'll only destroy themselves with those decisions?
When you're actions impact others we have an actual crime. There are states where suicide is illegal. That's the dumbest **** in history in a world with a massive amount of stupid **** implemented by nanny state politicians. Government's job is to protect you from me and me from you. It's not to protect you from you or me from me. That's the role of parents and I'm well beyond the age of needing those. In other words when your destructive behavior is no longer confined to your home then we have an actual problem. If you can afford your own drugs then I don't care. Steal from your neighbors or family to fund your addiction and I do.
How does the government protect me if my neighbor, the sole provider for his family, commits suicide? I pay taxes to support his family now. If he's an only child I'm on the hook for his parents. Or his siblings now are if he has any. What happens when his kids spiral out of control with drug addiction, promiscuity, or also commit suicide? Do people rush out to buy homes where copious amounts of drugs have been done? Or does society have to put extra effort into cleaning up the mess? The porn consumer in his own home is consuming exploitation (even stories of women who are compensated talk about drug addiction, alcoholism, and how the companies treat them - it's undeniable at this point).
There is no autonomous individual in this world created by abiogenesis. You believe in something that doesn't exist to justify your inhumanity toward others (what else can we call such callous indifference to suffering?).
Got my roof done a few months ago - those guys end up destroying their bodies for little money and no benefits. As a previous poster pointed out, top 5 deadliest job in the US. If they die - same situation. Should that job be banned?
Went to the rodeo. Bull riders are fun to watch. Can't imagine what their bodies feel like in retirement just so I can be entertained. Some might make some money in their careers but I bet most barely are surviving. Should that job be banned?
Wal-Mart checkers live a depressing life on minimum wage and end up on food stamps more often than not. Should we force Wal-Mart to pay more so the job doesn't have a likelihood to end in suicide?
As a society, we make all kinds of choices what we will legislate. This isn't about safety - and we all talk about precious Freedom that this country was founded on. This is about morality. My issue is that some people have different morals than I do (including Sharia law, including drug laws, including alcohol prohibition, including the prostitute.)
The government dictating morals that do not impact others is the antithesis of freedom. Banning vice activities don't work and lead to more criminalization surrounding the activity. Regulation can make the activity safer for the general population. If it leads to criminal activity with victims punish that criminal activity.
If your argument is don't do things that are against the law, then you probably don't have to participate in a discussion about what laws are just and I guess your giving a thumbs up to New York on this one.