That is completely debatable. There are excellent arguments on both sides, and I will be researching this more later today.
Ooh, that’s a good one. I think organ donation should be the default, and you have to sign your driver’s license or whatever to opt OUT, instead of the other way around.
Hey, now, let’s not get crazy. 
Oh, I have another extreme view–
I think that after World War 2, rather than create Israel in what is now Israel, the Allies should have just sliced off a nice chunk of Germany - I’m thinking East Frisia - and given it to the Jews to re-settle, after moving all the Germans out. I think that the Arabs had been shit on for centuries at that point and that regardless of what the Jews deserved, the Arabs certainly didn’t need all of this happening to them.
Also, I think it’s a shame the way the Pro-Armenian lobby in America treats the Turks, who are by far one of the most dependable allies the United States has had in the last 60 years. They are brave and valiant and have always been there when we needed a wingman, and they deserve our respect as a fellow nation. Anyway, regardless of what happened, 100 years ago the Turks were slaves and weren’t in control of their individual destinies.
I think that the 21st century will be dominated by the diplomatic situation between the USA and the People’s Republic of China, and I think that we as Americans need to come to terms with the relationship that our two nations must and will have, rather than thinking of it in a knee-jerk manner as the New Cold War.
I think that America should have leapt to the aid of Ho Chi Minh and cultivated him as a friend, and we should have been much closer to Tito’s Yugoslavia. I think we should have befriended the Chinese Communists, on Marshall’s recommendation, and we should have treated the Japanese much more harshly after World War 2 - at the very least, we should have eradicated the Imperial Family.
Yeah, there I am.
If you don’t mind my asking, why should we permit an opt-out? Why should we place a higher priority upon religious belief, or simple squeamishness, than upon actual human lives?
Bolding mine.
Unless that property is your uterus. In that case, you’re SOL.
I vehemently agree with this. Well said.
Yeah, like don’t wear short skirt-- I mean, women obviously need to make sure they aren’t causing themselves to be raped. Oh, it was your dad who raped you and impregnated you? Deal with it, etc. etc.
Also agree with this. Hell, even if there is an afterlife, I’m sure you don’t need your organs there.
I also believe that churches should be stripped of their tax free status. Why? Organized religion is just as political in 2012 as any lobbyist. Then again, I imagine that with most groups, this position isn’t exactly crazy.
I also believe that if there isn’t universal health care, there should at least be more readily available walk in clinic options. I don’t have insurance and short of going to Planned Parenthood, do you know how hard it is for me to get my birth control prescription refilled? Doctors won’t take me because I have no insurance-- so I have no primary care doctor and urgent cares won’t refill it because they aren’t my primary care doctor. There should be some sort walk in, easy, fast clinic for people aren’t “sick” but need refills for these kinds of medications. I’ve been on birth control for eleven years-- it shouldn’t be this hard to get it. I have plenty of money, but it’s harder than you’d think to find someone to take it. Frankly, birth control should be available over the counter, but that’s neither here nor there.
Actually, I’m not even sure that last one is all that extreme. It seems to me that in this day and age of preexisting conditions and god-like insurance companies denying people on a whim, it makes sense to have readily available cash options for people.
Is all birth control prescription only? What’s the rationale for it? Is the pill potentially dangerous?
Contraceptive pills are prescription only (condoms and other forms of birth control are not prescription only, but I was speaking of pills specifically). My understanding is that bc pills can cause blood clots and blood pressure issues, hence the prescription. That said, I can’t help but wonder if effects are really that much more serious than those of some other over the counter items.
For instance, the morning after pill (which is, effectively, a large dose of what is in the birth control pills all at once) is available over the counter-- though it isn’t intended to be used regularly. Of course, nothing is stopping me from using a morning after pill every few days if I wanted to do so, but I am fairly certain that wouldn’t be a label approved use ;).
My position, I suppose, is that I’m an adult woman who has been taking these bad boys for over a decade. I understand the risk and it is worth it to me. It shouldn’t be this hard for me to get my hands on some pills. It’s especially frustrating when I have friends who recreationally abuse prescription pills-- they can go into any urgent care and get a big bottle of narcotics without much issue. I, on the other hand, get lectured by the urgent care doctor that they couldn’t dare provide me with birth control pills, seeing as they aren’t my primary care doctor. One person I know actually sells the narcotics she gets from various urgent cares— she told me, “Go to Urgent Care X, they give you any prescription you want without asking any questions.” I did. They wouldn’t give me birth control pills.
A general plea. If you want an explanation for something that somebody else posted, fine. But if you want to debate what somebody else posted, please start a new thread.
Good luck with that!
I should be dictator of the world. I’d be really good at it. Y’all mofos just have to do what I tell you to do, and things will get much better. Trust me, guys.
It’s that “do what I tell you” part that makes my plan not so good. But I’m not kidding.
Hmmm, someone other than me having control over parts of my body? And the reasoning is to protect human life? No thanks.
Mine is this: I believe that every single illegal alien should be given ten minutes to make a solid case for citizenship, and then they either get it and stay or don’t get it and have to go. I do not believe they are doing jobs that Americans “just won’t do” and I don’t care if they’re paying sales tax or social security on a bogus card. Get Out.
Alcohol is worse than pot so I’d legalize pot.
I also believe that “gateway to more hardcore drugs” thing goes aways because the only reason it is somewhat of a gateway drug now is not because of the drug itself making you want to try something harder but because the guy who’s selling it also has worse shit he wants to sell you.
I was surprised by how much of Indistinguishable’s post #77 post I agree with. Some other things:
[ol][li]Like others, legalize all drugs, prostitution, gambling, etc.[/li][li]Like several others in this thread, I agree that immigration should be free. The only exception is for those carrying communicable diseases. There should be law enforcement at all points of entry to apprehend any wanted criminals who attempt to enter the country.[/li][li]Similar to the above, trade should be absolutely free.[/li][li]Politically speaking, there is nothing more important that freedom of speech. There are some things that are equally important.[/li][li]Welfare should take the form of a negative income tax. Each adult should be given, say, 1/2 the poverty level for a family of 4. If people want to live in large groups and not work, then let them. Let the people who are actually motivated make a better world, and let the lazy sit on their couches wasting their lives.[/li][li]Concepts like “serving your country” and use of the term “we” when describing the actions of the government have no place in a free society. [/li][li]The way that most people think of a physical basis of cognition is fundamentally flawed. In particular, the notion that certain brain processes cause thoughts and actions is wrong. The physical brain is merely the medium in which the abstract process of thought is carried out. The abstract process is the important part, not the medium.[/li][/ol]
[quote=“Dr.Love, post:132, topic:609649”]
[li]Concepts like “serving your country” and use of the term “we” when describing the actions of the government have no place in a free society.[/li][/quote]
Yeah, even though I used the phrase “serve their country every bit as much” in my post, I really don’t endorse the concept of “serving one’s country”; I just meant “provide valuable services to those around them”.
And I also endorse your #3. And a bunch of others, but #3 is one I feel now I should have included in my post.
That’s a good question; I think making it an “opt out” option allows people whose religious beliefs on the subject are strong enough to not want to donate organs to not do so, but leaves the rest of us in the donor pool. I think the rest of us would be more than sufficient to supply the organs needed for donation - it’s a win/win scenario, with nobody feeling co-erced.
Abortion? Fine. Not because the fetus isn’t a ‘person,’ but because even if it is, I think allowing abortions is more important for society than the lives of some almost babies.
Euthanasia? Fine! Persistent Vegetative State and you want to remove the feeding tube? Fine!
I think that most people have a bit of cognitive dissonance when it comes to human life, anyway. We take all sorts of risks, and allow people to engage in risky behavior because ‘freedom’ is so important. Then when they hurt themselves it becomes imperative to save them at all costs because life is precious. If we truly cared that much about life, we wouldn’t let football players beat their bodies into early graves.
2. Parents should be allowed to raise their kids however they want. School, no school, healthy food, junk food, whatever. Want to keep the kid at home and teach them nothing but Bible literacy? Have at it! I think that aside from truly inhumane and criminal behavior (and choices that directly affect the well-being of those around them, eg. vaccinations), parents should have free rein over their own parenting choices.
3. Globalization is the worst thing to ever have happened to humanity and culture. I think that the easy and instantaneous access to news, information, and goods from around the world we currently enjoy marks the beginning of the end of cultural diversity, authenticity, and human self-sufficiency.
(these are ‘extreme’, and while I do believe them, I also have not debated or refined them very much. Maybe they are untenable; I don’t know, because I haven’t really worked them out loud with anyone else before)
My body stops being mine after I’m dead, just like everything else that was mine does.
I believe that everyone born here should be given five minutes (time deducted for the learning curve) to make a solid case for citizenship, and then they either get it and stay or don’t and have to go. As someone mentioned earlier, being born on the right side of an imaginary line doesn’t make you a more worthy person.
Doing more research, it looks like you are partially right - there are three issues that are of major global concern, and they are poverty, resource consumption, and population growth. All three need to be considered together, not separately (in my opinion).
It just feels like a slippery slope to me. If someone else gets to decide what happens to my organs when I die, that’s not so different from them deciding what I do with the contents of my uterus while I’m alive. I would fully support generous tax breaks for donors though.
[/QUOTE]
I believe that everyone born here should be given five minutes (time deducted for the learning curve) to make a solid case for citizenship, and then they either get it and stay or don’t and have to go. As someone mentioned earlier, being born on the right side of an imaginary line doesn’t make you a more worthy person.
[/QUOTE]
Huh, would just showing my passport work? 
Big difference–the state assists in disbursing your property when you die in ways that would be totally unthinkable when you’re alive. Alive people and dead people have vastly different rights.
I got a couple more… (this is a fun thread!)
Cannibalism should be ok. As long as you get permission, there’s no difference eating a person than a cow
I think suicide is the ultimate expression of your individual liberties over your own body. Once you reach a certain age, no one should be able to stop you from killing yourself. We should have suicide centers set up for people to be able to go in and kill themselves. No psychological testing, no waiting period, just into the front door and out the back in a box in less than an hour. The person dying doesn’t suffer from it because I don’t believe death is a negative. There’s no afterlife, so you can’t sit around lamenting your decision. Once you’re dead, you stop worrying about that
One of these days I’ll post a topic about this, but I’m against the US spying. I’m against any big, powerful country doing that actually, and I don’t think spies or espionage is a great crime with very few exceptions (WMDs). Treason should not be a big deal
Zero tolerance for pedophilia is stupid. There is the possibility that an adult and child can have sex without it being damaging. It should be looked at on a case-by-case basis. “Its icky” is not a justification against making it illegal
You’re already dead. No matter what you think of the law forcing people to donate organs, they won’t be donated until you’re dead, so it doesn’t matter to you
I think that if you’re not an organ donor in this system, you can’t get any organs if you need it. Go ahead and opt out of giving, but don’t come crying to the government if you need an organ someday