Gianna’s last blog post..Digital art

Deter Smoke’s last blog post..How I Gave Up Smoking with Smoke Deter

Anyway - as far as your story - it’s quite interesting to me, and I think it’s sad you had to put the disclaimer re: marijuana. It’s amazing to me how closed minded people are about pot even now. It’s insane to me. I suppose as someone who has experienced a lot of psychedelic drugs, I have a hard time relating to people who are closed minded about such drugs. Who don’t really get it.

But … I know that wasn’t really your point, I have a habit of that, going off on a tangent with something I read.

Jonny Hypnosis’s last blog post..Astral Projection

It would be nice if that was a fundamental truth however it is simply a nice concept and idea, and does not fit into reality. It is the governments job to look after every one under it, and we give it the power to do just that - so if one part of its population is suffering it is just that it taxes the other halve REASONABLY to improve the lives of others.

However I am not saying it should be dismissed entirely, I think it should always be in the back of peoples minds, especially policy makers, and especially when it comes to freedom of choice, expression and pursuit of happiness. As long as they are not infringing on others peoples liberties (and being offended does not count as having your liberties infringed) it should be allowed. If someone does find themselves slightly put out, but not significantly effected, they should suffer it in the name of liberty.

The blood on our historical hands is undeniable except to say, I didn’t do it, and I wouldn’t support it now. That’s about all I can say about it. I wouldn’t support slavery today either, But I am not going to go around feeling guilty just because my ancestors made mistakes in their day. Do we condemn all Germans today because of previous violations of mankind? There is blood on the hands of everyone if you want to go back far enough. The test is, is it currently relevant?

Religion is something I try to keep out of politics and policy. I am not a religious person at all, and I wouldn’t even think about it except that it is my responsibility to defend the rights of me and mine. Those rights have to be defended from many groups and the religious fundamentalists are included in that list. But don’t make the mistake of calling them the most important ones on the list. Many are as dangerous.

I did not express my opinion on this issue (abortion) in the original post, I merely reported what I saw in the numbers. I can have an opinion without wanting it imposed as a rule of law.

But to address your comments regarding abortion: You say I have no right to have an opinion as I am not a woman. Are you saying it is proper for this issue to be judged only by women, or judged by only the one woman involved? Either way it doesn’t matter. I am a strong supporter of RU-486 and such early methods of termination. I am assuming though that we will agree that a “child” should not be aborted after 8 months of development. At that stage they are viable outside the womb and are people of their own right deserving of having their rights protected the same as anyone else. So the slope you start slipping down is how old is old enough? 7 months? 5 months? 3 months? I don’t believe that a fertilized egg is a person, but it is not clear what is.

Personally, I think people would be much less likely to abort if the fetus were to develop on the outside of the body where it could be observed. It would be much easier to abort — just clip it off and let it die. But it would be much more personable as well, and I think one would not be as quick to end that life as they are now when it is out of sight. They never even have to see the life they ended. Out of sight, out of mind.
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And finally, “personal responsibility”: You are correct that is not considered nearly enough. I won’t pretend to speak of other nations where my experience is limited, but, I wouldn’t think it was just a problem here in America. There is an abundance of people that think it is government’s job to take care of them. And in this country the politicians pander to them in exchange for votes.

You are not enlightening me about “personal responsibility”, my motto here is,
“We Are The Gods — Take Responsibility”.

The European tradition of libertarianism is anarchist. We also believe in personal liberty and are against the state, but, unlike the US version, we aren’t stuck in a rightwing mindset, where we despise the working class, despise the poor, despise anyone needing help. We don’t defend the rich and priviledged against the rest, and we don’t stop our espousal of personal liberty when it comes to women and their bodies. ONLY a woman can decide whether to continue with a pregnancy, YOU have no right whatsoever to even have an opinion on the matter. So much for personal liberty, when people like you go shooting doctors and causing women to fear for their lives with your doctrinaire fascistic attitude. It is a woman’s body and she can do what she damn well likes and that includes giving life to a fetus or aborting it.

European libertarians/anarchists don’t believe in the right of every loony tunes sociopath to own an assault rifle either, but then your history is covered in the blood you spilled when taking over th4e land of the native Americans, and your law enforcement is founded on everyone having a gun and shooting people in the back if they disagreed with you.

WE come from a socialist tradition of caring for the dispossessed, for the poor and homeless, for those not so able to make it rich. Where we differ from socialists [which isn’t a dirty word in the UK] is we are against the state growing ever more powerful and imposing on citizens. Anarchism is the true libertarian state, it includes personal responsibility, something you don’t hear a lot about with American ‘libertarians’ who are strong on me me me, what I want, but lack the compassion to care about others.

So don’t say I’m not a libertarian, try reading some history first, not just the same old right wing propaganda which tells you how to think.
I know you consider yourself libertarian, and I haven’t posted that you aren’t. OK?