Why do YOU feel you have the right to dictate what one does in their social life?

Great Debates
61

I think in a society where government is involved in funding health care and other social services, the argument can always be made in favor of legislating against things that have negative health impacts.

Maybe it is none of my business if you shoot heroin. When you want to kick, and show up at a publicly-funded methadone clinic, to the extent that I am supporting the clinic with my tax dollars, it becomes my business. I am suffering a net harm in being taxed because of your bad choices.

The other point is the degree to which you can separate theory from practice. Maybe, in theory, legalized prostitution would reduce street walking, and there would be fewer used condoms lying in the gutters in front of my business scaring off the customers. But if instead, the legalization of prostitution removes a barrier from its practice, so that the number of used condoms goes up, and the police can do less about it because the prostitutes are acting legally, I have suffered a net harm. And by being forced to clean up the used condoms to retain my customers, I am subsidizing bad choices by someone else.

You can try, if you like, to re-introduce legislation regarding (for instance) prostitution, and try to confine it only to certain districts, or only under certain conditions. But then you have still increased availability, and therefore the likelihood that prostitution will occur in ways you wanted to avoid.

Heroin is illegal to everyone, adults and children alike. Alcohol is legal only for adults. Does anyone doubt that alcohol is more available to children than heroin? Or that this is because alcohol is legal to some in our society?

It is extremely difficult to draw a line, and say, “Everything on this side is my business - keep out.” Lots of stuff is on both sides of the line, and government keeps pushing the line. Public funding of health care, second hand smoke, publicly funded anti-drug programs - it’s all my business.

Limited government, anyone?

Regards,
Shodan

62

Methodical and haphazard genocide and assassination, genetic crossbreeding, cost gouging,starving people, enslaving people…
These are just a few.

63

Oh yeah? Which companies? We didn’t have a Genocide and Slavary Group at my last company. I thought you were going to come up with something less outlandish like people cheating on their spouses while on business trips or bigwigs abusing their expense accounts by going to strip clubs and fancy restaurants.

Getting back to the OP, I feel that everything that I encounter in my environment IS my business. If I am opposed to…say…heroine for whatever reason, I am going to speak out against people who I must interact with using heroine. If those people continue to behave in a manner which I disagree with, I will either do what is in my power to remove them from my environment or I will remove myself from an environment where that kind of behavior is accepted.

For example, if you are the type of person who doesn’t drink or party and expects quiet and cleanliness, you might want to think twice about joining most fraternities.

If you aren’t a homosexual, you might want to avoid going to bars and clubs that cater to that lifestyle. By the same token, they should not expect the rest of the world to cater to them.
Everyone also has the same right to attempt to shape their environment as I do. That is why there are disagreements. As long as you are interacting with other people, expect some of them to try and influence what you do in your social life.

You seem to say that in a lot of your threads. Maybe you should consider articulating them better.

64

D’oh, good point. I thought you were directing it at me.

Erek

65

I don’t think that people’s inability to seperate the post from the poster is limited to my threads, however, improving my communication skills is something I constantly work on.

And the thing with JThunder was MY misunderstanding HIM as opposed to the other way around.

Erek

66

I should have said some government offices, some corporations, and some military actions. I base my reality (my perception) upon life experiences and tons of research. If something bothers me then I will normally leave the area, unless physical confrontation forces me into “terror” mode. That has only been once as a result of dictating and preaching. I don’t believe in anyone telling me what to do unless I know it’s the right thing to do. I agree each one of us has the right to say no or yes and if what we do helps society or individuals thats all that matters

67

I can’t speak for heroin, but marijuana is also illegal to everyone, and I’m positive that marijuana is more available to minors than alcohol. Liquor dealers have a legal incentive to check ID, but illicit drug dealers are breaking the law just as much no matter who they sell to.

68

Unless you go through life as a macrobiotic swilling solar energized nudist in a total isolation bubble, what ever you do will somehow affect someone, somewhere, negatively…Birth controll and abortion affect the devoutly religious quite negatively - especially if they feel that their tax dollars are somehow involved.
But a sudden rise in the birth rate would affect everyone on earth’s tax dollars negativley. What disturbs me is when the call for prohibition stems from some subliminal precept, whether religious, political social or otherwise. And it has always seemed to me that the prohibitive attitude is strongest when the behaviors for prohibition can be easiest assessd in the areas of lower economic opportunity and educational prospects. Most hookers and crack heads don’t hail from the suburbs, and the slums are the slums not because of it, but in lieu of it. And it ain’t likely to change by moral relativism or prohibition. It just worsens it.
The criminal repercussions from drugs, prostitution, etc. arise because of its criminality and not from the behavior. And I am not advocating prostitution, drug use or gun ownership.

69

ranwashingt: I agree wholeheartedly on that.

Erek

70

ranwashingt: I agree wholeheartedly on that.

Mr2001: Yeah it was MUCH easier for us to get pot when we were kids than it was for us to get alcohol. We had to find some willing third party to buy the alcohol for us, whereas with pot we just went straight to the source. And for heroin I think it’s more an availability of supply. If you know where to get it, it is also easier to aquire than alcohol. I could probably go out right now and come back with some heroin within an hour. Being that I’m over 21 I am actually much more likely to end up at a bar chatting with the cute bartender, in fact that’s imminent.

Erek

71

I think you’re failing to distinguish between despotic rule and the exercise of some right to say what others should do in their “social lives.” Your statement rightfully skewers the former, but it does not speak to the latter.

Remember, I pointed out that the statement “Nobody has the right to dictate what others should do in their social life” is self-refuting. This does not mean that anyone has the absolute authority to do so; rather, it simply means that people have some prerogative in this manner.

Should we condemn people who vigorously crusade against drunk driving, as one part of their various social interactions? What about people who oppose heroin or cocaine abuse? For that matter, should we condemn those who use their social interactions to lobby against bullying in schools? These are all matters which are done as part of their social lives, so if such dictates are inherently wrong, then these must be condemned as well.

72

How about Lib’s formula – one should not initiate violence or fraud; and it is appropriate to stop people from initiating violence or fraud – and whatever else you do is your own business?