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| Politics Is Absurd; Politicians should go home | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 1 2006, 11:28 PM (222 Views) | |
| Cooker the Mighty | Jan 1 2006, 11:28 PM Post #1 |
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Guildmaster
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v._Texas A certain law was repealed in the case in the link above. What is more deserving of thought is the fact the law was there and needed to be repealed in the first place. There was very little justification beside word of arbitrary authority. The law enforced a norm of very little value. Is it really the business of anyone who does not practice it? Are they doing any harm to everyone else? Does anyone else even know about it? Is enforcing this law really worth the tax dollar? I think it’s really absurd for politicians to decide thing they really know nothing about. Why can’t decisions be made by people that are actually qualified to make them? Honestly, how many politicians selling the abortion issue ever had an abortion? How many politicians marketing drug policies came out of an addiction? How many politicians that decide space program funding know anything about rockets? How many politicians who declare wars actually fought in one? These people should go home and flip burgers. |
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Our minds will be the blades drawn against the darkness! - Melle, Daughter of the North Wind. Wings of Darkness | |
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| Cooker the Mighty | Jan 1 2006, 11:42 PM Post #2 |
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Guildmaster
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It’s very disturbing that people will erect a law justified only by moral antipathy. You would ban something simply because you don’t Like it, Even if it’s innocuous. |
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Our minds will be the blades drawn against the darkness! - Melle, Daughter of the North Wind. Wings of Darkness | |
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| Oni the Vengeful one | Jan 2 2006, 12:21 AM Post #3 |
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Administrator
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Laws are there to prevent undesirable stuff from happening. Some strict adherents to religion see homosexuality as an affront to their god(s) and as such as something that should be forbidden. A lot of other people disagree, but it's not just dislike in this case. It's adhering to the rules of a presumed higher power. |
![]() I love deadlines! Especially the whooshing sound they make as they rush by... | |
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| Alfryd | Jan 2 2006, 01:30 AM Post #4 |
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Guildmaster
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Unless you live in a theocracy, legislation is supposed to be based on policies that can be objectively demonstrated to benefit the populace. Feelings are not objectively demonstrable, even if we were to suppose them to have a lasting impact on actual well-being, and so do not come into it. A higher supernatural power is certainly not objectively demonstrable, even if we suppose it's commandments to originate in a wisdom beyond our comprehension, which I think violates any notion of moral responsibility. What two consenting adults do in private on their own time and at their own expense, provided it doesn't harm others, is no concern of others, least of all government. </discussion> It should be said, however, that politicians are usually just reacting to the views held by their constituents, proportionally weighted by campaign contributions, as standard practice in any well-heeled plutocracy. The alternative approach is to systematically befuddle and misinform the electorate behind a screen of national security while you do whatever you feel is in the country's best interest. All things being equal, I consider the former policy the lesser of two evils. |
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| ShortStomp | Jan 2 2006, 04:34 PM Post #5 |
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HoA Legal Advisor
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As a resident of Texas, I am embarrassed and appalled that the law was considered appropriate in the first place. I have a similar reaction to the recent state constitutional amendment prohibiting homosexual marriage. Nevertheless, Alfyd touches on an important point. Some people vote that way (and thus elect politicians who vote that way) because of very basic premises which cannot be logically challenged. If you believe abortion is murder (an issue of faith more than anything else), then you necessarily believe it should be prohibited. If you believe that open homosexuality will cause the downfall of society (and many do, though for reasons and via processes that are far from clear), then you necessarily vote to preserve society by discouraging homosexuality. It is hard to fault people for being consistent with their premises. Of course, the vast majority vote from ignorance, fear and bigotry rather than considered premises, but I give each individual voter the benefit of the doubt . . . |
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| Spiderman | Jan 3 2006, 01:59 PM Post #6 |
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Content Team Member
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Very ideal but not at all put into a realistic, everyday business. A lot of laws get the "personal touch" or those that benefit the few (but powerful). |
| Thwip! | |
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| Dumble Dwarf | Jan 4 2006, 02:36 AM Post #7 |
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Content Team Member
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I think that Cooker doesn't realize that the United States is (in practice) one of the least egalitarian Democracies in the world. The United States Declaration of Independence (which isn't a legal document) says, "all men are created equal". Originally this statement excluded women, slaves and other groups. I'd give it another 50 or 100 years before we finally live up to those words penned over 200 years ago. |
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Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works. | |
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| Cooker the Mighty | Jan 4 2006, 04:18 AM Post #8 |
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Guildmaster
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Equality is not as appalling as efficiency. Paid politicians are making decisions that they know nothing about. Tax dollars are spent on enforcing laws that has little benefit. Less bulky and more efficient system would benefit everyone greatly. Expect a few people without talent, but they can always learn. |
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Our minds will be the blades drawn against the darkness! - Melle, Daughter of the North Wind. Wings of Darkness | |
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| ShortStomp | Jan 4 2006, 05:02 AM Post #9 |
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HoA Legal Advisor
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Another example: The War on Drugs. Costs billions, has not really impaired the ability of those who want them to get them, so the only thing it succeeds at is propping up the prices of illegal drugs, so the producers, dealers and smugglers get rich. The rational thing is to legalize them, tax them, and attempt to limit their sale to consenting adults, just like alcohol and tobacco products. The price drops enormously, and there is no longer enough profit to justify the risk and effort of drug lords and organized crime. When is the last time you heard about a shooting over tobacco-selling turf? Earmark some of the taxes for education campaigns, some to licensing and enforcement, and the rest can help the general deficit. Probably see some increase in reported drug abuse, but not much increase in actual use. Most employers frown on drugs and many test for them. I expect you would see even more employers test for them if they were legal. But this will never happen, because it would be political suicide. The rational truth rarely trumps the things people already believe. |
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| Dumble Dwarf | Jan 4 2006, 05:42 AM Post #10 |
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Content Team Member
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I think Laurence J. Peter said it best: "In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."
Ah, libertarianism... don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen. "The government that governs best, governs least" - Thomas Jefferson Edit: Another nice quote from Jefferson: "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." Many more are available from The Jefferson Cyclopedia which is now public domain. |
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Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works. | |
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