A Truly Free Society

by on June 26, 2008 in Uncategorized

RealClearPolitics.com | Legalize All Drugs by John Stossel | link

Liberty – 1: the quality or state of being free: a: the power to do as one pleases (Merriam-Webster)

What does it mean to be a free society? Or for a citizen to possess freedom?

Liberty allows you the free will of action and speech up to the point that you infringe upon another’s liberty. The ideal of liberty is uncomfortable and uncompromising and belief in such an ideal makes me a radical in most every circle.

Allow me to use an inflammatory example to show what I mean. Drunk Driving should not be illegal. If you are drunk and you drive that is not my business. You are free to do what you want. However, your freedom ends the moment you strike another vehicle or kill another human being. At this point you have broken the law and the penalty for such a crime should be so drastic that it would discourage the activity in the first place.

As coarse as this notion may sound we must shun any sign of a nanny state. Once you hand over a part of your freedom to the government, you will never get it back. (No driving w/ cell phones, No driving while eating, No smoking in cars… see the trend?)

Even more amazing is the American peoples capitulating to the greatest infringement of personal rights and government’s monumental failure called the “War on Drugs”.What do we do with the drug issue in America?

ALL DRUGS SHOULD BE LEGALIZED

  1. If you want to get high I’ve got no right to prohibit you from getting high.
  2. The War on Drugs is causing more violence and crime then the actual drug use.

This is an excerpt from a piece entitled, “Legalize All Drugs” by John Stossel,

For adults, everything should be legal. I’m amazed that the health police are so smug in their opposition.

After years of reporting on the drug war, I’m convinced that this “war” does more harm than any drug.

Independent of that harm, adults ought to own our own bodies, so it’s not intellectually honest to argue that “only marijuana” should be legal — and only for certain sick people approved by the state. Every drug should be legal….

…adults should have the right to harm themselves.

Want a second opinion? I highly recommend the Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) promotional video. It is scary to hear the insiders tales of this police action.


Can you name one place where prohibition has worked? Could you handle living in a society where we are treated as adults and not as wards of the state? How much control are you willing to give to your governement.

Tagged as: Politics

  • Slydog

    I think you are walking a real fine line there bud.
    Legalize everything?!!?
    I see no benefit from that. Do this and you now have heroin addicts, meth addicts, crack addicts and the like roaming the streets laughing at you because they can legally destroy themselves. Problem is, once they need their next fix, at what ends are they going to stop to get it? These drugs are so strong, and their addictive power so strong, that you stop at nothing to get high again.

    Legalize everything, fine. There’s going to be a lot of dead crack addicts lying around – not because of overdose, nope. I see one of those crazy ass holes coming near me or my family and I’m going to exercise my right to defend myself with lethal force.

    At least while it’s illegal they have to hide what they do, and can’t roam the streets like idiots.

    Just my $.02

  • Slydog

    Something else I caught in the video.
    the ponytailed guy makes a comment 9:40 seconds into the video.
    He says: “When you arrest a rapist, the rape stops. When you arrest a bank robber, the robberies stop. What ever happens when you arrest a drug dealer?”

    Ok, when you arrest a rapist, that rapist stops. No doubt. But the next rapist still keeps raping.
    when you arrest a bank robber, that robber stops. No doubt. But the next robber keeps robbing.
    Same for a drug dealer. Same for a child molester. Same for a car thief. same for any crime. Murderers are still on the street. And what’s worse is prison systems are so luxurious now days the criminals want to be there. But thats another topic for another day.

    Point is, this guy just lost my confidence. You can’t say that arresting a rapist stops rape. It doesn’t. It stops one rapist. If arresting a rapist stops rape, then we wouldn’t hear about rape cases today at all.

  • http://KnowtheNetwork.com tsudohnimh

    I’ll take the comments in reverse.

    I think the point the officer was making is that when you arrest a rapist or murderer there is not another rapist or murderer that will step in and fill that void. Obviously others will commit rape or murder but there is one less on the street. When you arrest a drug dealer there is another dealer that will take place so you never reduce the number of dealers you just cycle through them. Arresting a rapist or murder reduces crime, arresting a drug dealer doesn’t impact the overall system.

    I realize that a viewpoint of “legalize everything” is shocking, however, you are assuming that just b/c we legalize a drug that drug abuse will skyrocket. I disagree with the assumption and actually believe the opposite. Addiction rates have been the same for 100 years. Once we bring the drug market into the light we reduce crime, we control distribution, we keep it out of the hands of children and we can more effectively target those that need help. I don’t think there would be one additional crack head anywhere, I think there would be less. You and your family would be in no more danger than they are now.

    In summary: Usage would not increase, crime would decrease, distribution would be controlled. Prohibiton doesn’t work and it’s time to quit wasting resources and manpower on this pointless war. Finally, Freedom is Freedom. Period. If you want to destroy yourself you should have the right to do so. (We still sell alcohol don’t we?)

  • http://www.changeforge.com ChangeForge

    Tsu, I would agree with the very principal of your belief. However, I have become a little more jaded in the simple fact that people have forgotten a very primary component of Liberty – the responsibility and accountability that accompanies such a power as being free.

    Freedom, in my humble opinion, is much like love. I can be selfish and call it love – but true love is a relationship where both partners are committed to the other selflessly. This creates restraint and borders where both parties can feel completely protected. Why? Because each party has the other’s best interest at heart.

    Extend my argument to liberty. You are correct in that your freedom ends where it will infringe upon another’s liberty – but who is to decide this? The problem here is liberty works only in a society where its members are focused upon an attitude of service and selflessness – protection for each other.

    Every argument in a marriage – every argument – comes from one party doing, saying, or acting in a selfish manner. As such, every conflict in history stems from another’s belief in something that is opposite from another and an unwillingness for compromise.

    One thing that people have forgotten is that government is supposed to be the people. We in point of fact, live in a more socialistic culture where we have traded our rights of freedom for creature comforts – traded our liberty as currency to pay for the outsourcing of our hassles and worries.

    Some efforts by our “governement” have been good, but most have been stretched and twisted – resembling something wholely different than the original spirit of law intended.

    Keep in mind, legalizing everything is not the answer, excusing irresponsible behavior is never the solution. Successful societies hold to the covenant of some standards – and agree to live by this social contract. Why? To preserve the greater good, to perpetuate humanity itself.

    I admire your idealism, and I once to held to a standard that everyone could self moderate, but what I have been sadly made aware of through experience is that so many people do not – or worse – will not self-moderate their behavior.

    What is truly sad to me is that these same abusive and selfish individuals claim it is their “right” to act in such a way as not acting in this fashion would impose upon their freedom. If you need any grander social experiment as proof, I would encourage you review a little thing called Woodstock 1967… Great ideals, but a miserable failure exemplifying self-indulgence and excess which resulted in souless physical exchanges, malnutrion and disease.

    No my friend, we are not mature enough to handle a “no holds barred” society.

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  • Slydog

    Well put.

  • http://KnowtheNetwork.com tsudohnimh

    I completely agree concerning the relationship of responsibility and freedom and to be blunt, responsibility is not an abundant attribute in today’s society. However, I counter with this… What would the answer to the drug problem be? What we are doing is obviously not working, decriminalization would not recognize the treatment needs and economic aspects of the drug trade and addiction, so I am left with a final option.

    Legalize, Regulate, Tax, Treat and Prosecute Crime… not addiction.
    Ask any high school student in the country which is easier to obtain marijuana or alcohol? They can buy grass from the student 3 lockers down but getting beer is a much more difficult prospect. This is solely due to controlled distribution and age restrictions on alcohol. Prohibition has never worked and it never will.

    Liberty is Liberty – just b/c we have allowed an ever encroaching nanny state to rule our lives it doesn’t change the foundations of freedom to which we were founded on. (Not to mention I can’t find anything about the DEA in the constitution).

    I’m willing to try the responsibility of citizens in order to stop perpetuating a losing drug war.

  • http://KnowtheNetwork.com Tsudo

    I completely agree concerning the relationship of responsibility and freedom and to be blunt, responsibility is not an abundant attribute in today's society. However, I counter with this… What would the answer to the drug problem be? What we are doing is obviously not working, decriminalization would not recognize the treatment needs and economic aspects of the drug trade and addiction, so I am left with a final option.

    Legalize, Regulate, Tax, Treat and Prosecute Crime… not addiction.
    Ask any high school student in the country which is easier to obtain marijuana or alcohol? They can buy grass from the student 3 lockers down but getting beer is a much more difficult prospect. This is solely due to controlled distribution and age restrictions on alcohol. Prohibition has never worked and it never will.

    Liberty is Liberty – just b/c we have allowed an ever encroaching nanny state to rule our lives it doesn't change the foundations of freedom to which we were founded on. (Not to mention I can't find anything about the DEA in the constitution).

    I'm willing to try the responsibility of citizens in order to stop perpetuating a losing drug war.

  • http://KnowtheNetwork.com Keith

    I completely agree concerning the relationship of responsibility and freedom and to be blunt, responsibility is not an abundant attribute in today's society. However, I counter with this… What would the answer to the drug problem be? What we are doing is obviously not working, decriminalization would not recognize the treatment needs and economic aspects of the drug trade and addiction, so I am left with a final option.

    Legalize, Regulate, Tax, Treat and Prosecute Crime… not addiction.
    Ask any high school student in the country which is easier to obtain marijuana or alcohol? They can buy grass from the student 3 lockers down but getting beer is a much more difficult prospect. This is solely due to controlled distribution and age restrictions on alcohol. Prohibition has never worked and it never will.

    Liberty is Liberty – just b/c we have allowed an ever encroaching nanny state to rule our lives it doesn't change the foundations of freedom to which we were founded on. (Not to mention I can't find anything about the DEA in the constitution).

    I'm willing to try the responsibility of citizens in order to stop perpetuating a losing drug war.

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