Quote:
Originally Posted by abaya
I am not convinced that this OP is written in the spirit of a true "PUB DISCUSSION." There is no need to start out a thread by accusing your audience of being "self righteous" or telling them what to do.
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I agree with you, abaya. This is a perfectly good topic for a THREAD. I think that framing it as PUB DISCUSSION is problematic.
To answer the OP, though: In my opinion, banning smoking and limiting handguns isn't even in the same PLANET with banning abortion or limiting access to birth control. One is a move that, yes, to some extent curtails people's freedoms for the literal, tangible benefit to the public. The other is a control on people's freedoms for nothing other than religious or emotional reasons.
Could it be that I agree with the liberal controls and disagree with the conservative ones? Sure. But arguing that nobody should control my actions is just silly.
When you partake in a civil society, you agree to give up certain rights for the common good. Rousseau. Social Contract. One of the notions our country was founded on. You don't have the right to drive your car literally anywhere it can go--you have an agreement with the state apparatus to keep it between the lines. There's no argument about whether that's for the public good; it clearly is. This is no different, it's just a matter of where you draw the line, and what "public good" exactly it is you're serving--and the argument over the specific placement of that line is the whole nature of politics.