[thechat] roll yr own blackout

Ben Dyer ben_dyer at imaginuity.com
Mon May 21 15:06:45 CDT 2001


At 02:49 PM 5/21/2001, you wrote:
>>  It's not the government's place to be mandating the safety of our 
>> nation's citizens.
>
>what?  I hope you grow your own food, then, and you are able to collect 
>your own water from a pristine spring, and that you are able to do 
>extensive research on every product you use for yourself and your children.

Or federally insuring our banks which allows them to loan money to people 
or companies we'd never dream of loaning to?
Or withholding drugs for safety concerns when there aren't any?
Or allowing passage of drugs when safety concerns abound?
Or militarizing the police in the name of public safety or public health 
(Drug War)?
Or allowing the preservation of national forests so that wildfires spread 
faster?
Or sticking our nose in other countries' business, besmirching the name of 
democracy in an effort to preserve our own capitalist interests, while, at 
the same time, neglecting other worldwide hotspots because they don't make 
us money?
Or shooting down missionaries who they think are drug runners because 
they're flying a plane in Peru?
Or systematically targeting the African American community with their 
obsessive, meaningless Drug War?

Need I go on?

>Or do you trust the industries to keep you safe?  Oh my.

You missed my point.  My point was I don't trust either.  Government is 
wrong.  Businesses are wrong.

>>I mean, the next logical step is to just outlaw smoking, drinking, guns, 
>>sex, red meat, fried foods, video games, the internet because let's face 
>>it, none of it's really safe for us.
>
>the best argument you can make is a fallacious one?

I'd hardly call it fallcious.  Baby steps.  Every step forward gives 
argument to someone else who wishes to advance his own personal 
causes.  "Well, if Mr. X can do Y, why can't I do Z?  It's all in the name 
of public safety, after all."

Maybe I should have rephrased my initial argument better:

It's not the government's place to be mandating the safety of our nation's 
citizens when it comes to personal decisions.

We've gone off on a tangent.  In terms of personal decisions, I'm quite 
Libertarian.

--Ben


<!-----------------------
Ben Dyer
Senior Internet Developer
Imaginuity Interactive
http://www.imaginuity.com
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