# My question for Libertarians - should it be legal to masturbate in public? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 19, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-question-for-libertarians-should-it-be-legal-to-masturbate-in-public/628785 "2012-07-19T22:53:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-question-for-libertarians-should-it-be-legal-to-masturbate-in-public/628785/81 "2012-07-26T14:22:50Z")
Masturbating in public isn’t illegal, it’s just frowned upon. Like counting cards in a casino. (hopefully somebody will get this reference) ---
**Author:** ![wiredbadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3be4f8/32.png) [@wiredbadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wiredbadger)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-question-for-libertarians-should-it-be-legal-to-masturbate-in-public/628785/82 "2012-07-26T15:17:14Z")
i notice no one is utilizing a Locke perspective. it would be curious to see how this would work out. that since, if a person frequents a spot a lot, almost daily , lets say 15 hours out of a 24 hour day. therefore, experiencing the environment and interacting with it would qualify along Locke’s concept of ownership. i mean is it not what the basis of ‘squatting’ is all about? Locke said that all thought stems from experience, that what we create or interact with becomes our property and in return intimately our own. it would be an extension of ones own homestead. morality aside, as if that is even existent nowadays. it would be an interesting argument to see if, aside from puritan ethics, using Locke’s rationale if the person is in the wrong. morally speaking. i find that , the property arguments that people are stemming seem to ignore Locke’s precept. which he ironically created to defend against government over watch for his friends in the 17 or 18th century. somewhat ingenious too. though ironically comical when realized in it’s full form. it can still be said that any such action is not only involuntary, due to self recognition and unconscious ownership of familiarity but that technically it is only a natural expression given the conditions. i have seen people go to coffee stores in their bedclothes ,complete in slippers.mug in hand,half awake to the world. this action,behavior is acceptable. so at the core, it would seem that Locke is correct.(by the way , dressed in nightgown is looked at oddly in the public and considered strange. but no one seems to question the above observation, in fact police are want to investigate why exactly a person is walking in their bedclothes, the prelude to many comedy sketches and antithesis to many horror and dramatic scenes which feel the need to exaggerate some aspect of the movie/show) ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-question-for-libertarians-should-it-be-legal-to-masturbate-in-public/628785/83 "2012-07-26T16:35:42Z")
> [@coffeecat](#): > > Does libertarianism mean I couldn’t call the cops on someone who’s being a nuisance, say after the third time I ask you to stop jerking off to my daughter? Even in our current sorry, collectivist semi-tyranny we have freedom of speech, yet I can still stop someone from standing under my window and screaming “Asshole!” at 3 AM. Perhaps you could walk through the yard of your other neighbor, the lonesome divorcee. If you masturbate for her, she might even spring for the pizza. Your daughter must be HOT! ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-question-for-libertarians-should-it-be-legal-to-masturbate-in-public/628785/84 "2012-07-26T16:45:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But if there’s any point in talking about libertarianism, it should be to talk about the things that distinguish libertarianism from other systems. > > Libertarians can say _“We believe in good laws and social order and peace and justice and democracy and freedom and civil rights.”_ And everyone else can answer _“We believe in all those things too. So why be a libertarian? We can get everything you offer in our current system.”_ > > If libertarians want to convince people in their cause, they have to explain what libertarianism offers that you won’t get in other non-libertarian systems. > > And in general, an extreme version of property values is a primary example of something libertarianism offers that other systems do not. I agree, but that seems to be the easiest straw man to beat. I don’t think that Libertarianism is a “system” so much as a government philosophy. It goes way out of whack when we talk about privatizing roads and whatnot. The philosophy is a far greater emphasis on the freedom of the individual. Those aren’t just words, they mean repeal of drug and prostitution laws. The mindset behind seat belt laws or motorcycle helmet laws wouldn’t be there. A MASSIVE reduction in government spending. No departments of commerce, education, HUD, energy, etc. Let the free market deal with these things. Reduce the military just to basic defense. All of these are tangible things that make libertarianism a distinct philosophy. You seem to imply that a Libertarian is demanding a revolution to make these things happen, but they could all be done under our current system. ---
**Author:** ![wiredbadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3be4f8/32.png) [@wiredbadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wiredbadger)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-question-for-libertarians-should-it-be-legal-to-masturbate-in-public/628785/85 "2012-07-26T16:56:17Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I agree, but that seems to be the easiest straw man to beat. I don’t think that Libertarianism is a “system” so much as a government philosophy. It goes way out of whack when we talk about privatizing roads and whatnot. > > The philosophy is a far greater emphasis on the freedom of the individual. Those aren’t just words, they mean repeal of drug and prostitution laws. The mindset behind seat belt laws or motorcycle helmet laws wouldn’t be there. > > A MASSIVE reduction in government spending. No departments of commerce, education, HUD, energy, etc. Let the free market deal with these things. Reduce the military just to basic defense. > > All of these are tangible things that make libertarianism a distinct philosophy. You seem to imply that a Libertarian is demanding a revolution to make these things happen, but they could all be done under our current system. agreed. it comes down to motive or directive. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-question-for-libertarians-should-it-be-legal-to-masturbate-in-public/628785/86 "2012-07-26T18:49:09Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > All of these are tangible things that make libertarianism a distinct philosophy. You seem to imply that a Libertarian is demanding a revolution to make these things happen, but they could all be done under our current system. Not if we keep the current constitution, where even poor people with no property get to vote. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-question-for-libertarians-should-it-be-legal-to-masturbate-in-public/628785.md?page=4)