Quote:
Originally Posted by murp0434
Theoretically, laws are enacted to prevent people from doing activities that would harm others, right? For example, it's illegal to kill people or do them bodily harm.
However, many thousands of people are in prison right now for crimes which actually do no harm to anyone outside of themselves. There are two immediate examples which come to mind, but remember these are not the only examples - merely the obvious ones.
First I guess would be prostitution. Now I know that terrible things happen when pimps and etc. get involved, but if in a given situation there are two people who wish to exchange money in order for the occurrence of sexual activity, what is the problem? If there are only two (2) people involved in the situation, and both of them agree that the situation is A-OK, why should the government be involved at all in the transaction? I would even go so far to say that, were the activity NOT illegal, the involvement of pimps, etc. would not be necessary.
Another obvious and easy example is smoking mary-jew-anna. If I have a pot plant growing in my yard (which I may or may not actually have  ) and I take to smoking its bounty on a regular basis, why should I have to be afraid of the government? If I were to get robbed at gunpoint, and call the cops, it is more likely that I would get hammered for the pot plant than the robber would get pursued and prosecuted. Does that seem right to you?
Other examples of consensual laws would be polygamy (assuming all parties are consenting and of age), underage drinking, adultery, porn, abortion, using drugs in general, pre-agreed-upon euthanasia, suicide, or any other crime in which all the participants are consenting... |
murph, pretty much everything you mentioned in yor post is illegal in some form or other here. ...except polygyny. no im not talking about australia here, i currently live in the UAE
contrary to what many think, this place isnt governed by shariah law like places like saudi. in actual fact, its probably the most lax arab nation...probably after lebanon. its tsill has issues with recieving crticism, and curbing disenting voices is always an issue, but there have been improvements in the last few years.
but you will find nearly everything you want here from openly gay male gatherings, to drugs, to prostitution in seedy bars..pretty much what you'd find anywhere else in the rest of the world.
do i agree with all the curbing of freedoms? no not really. some issues i freel stronger about than others, but generally curbing of freedoms is akin to a closed society, and i am totally against that. police states will become failed states one day.
on the other hand, i must say that i live in relative peace and harmony. crime here is extremely low and almost non existant. anyone can walk down the street without having to think about whether there is someone waiting around the corner ready to mug you, so the curbing of some freedoms and the introduction of laws makes this place a lot more livable than other 'free' nations.
what i do find reprehensible is the fact that freedom of expression and freedom to access information is curbed. but i wont go into that for obvious reasons
sorry, i thought id give my personal circumstances in order to answer the OP.
as far as laws being put in place to keep people from harming each other, i see no problem in that. in fact i have no problem in a little bit of restrictions to keep people civilised. driving at 180km/h on a highway for example is not going hurting anyone (provided you dont have an accident) but its definately illegal and should be curbed. the same goes with most laws, which include laws from harming yourself (underage drinking for example). so laws are not really a bad thing. it just depends on the interpretations that each nation used to deicde on how to implement these laws. this obviously comes down religious beliefs, cultural norms and a myriad of other factors.