JimBowie1958
Old Fogey
- Sep 25, 2011
- 63,590
- 16,773
Completely beside the point. The point was that those people do not have the right to take YOUR right to do so away. You might hurt those that are close to you by leaving them but that does not factor into taking your right away to do so.
Lol, Dude, *I* made the counter-point earlier in the thread, so please dont tell me what my point is, OK?
What I am trying to reign in some is this popular (among libertarians anyway) argument that no one else is affected if I destroy myself.
For most people this is simply not true. And yes, I think that the need to avoid this injury justifies people using the law or other means to save their loved ones.
If my child or wife were addicted to some shit, I would rent a cabin out somewhere, read up on the affects of the addiction and withdrawal, and take them, by force if necesary, out to that cabin and hold them there till they were free of the physical addiction. The mental and spiritual part is another thing altogether. Some people just want to die so bad they will choose self-destruction every time. But I would do this for that one chance before they are gone for ever.
If you dont get that then it seems you have never understood what love is.
No one is arguing whether or not you will affect someone else, like a loved one, from destructive behavior. We are referring to the rights guaranteed by the constitution. Affecting someone can be done without drugs. I could have a bad temper and affect my loved ones by yelling at them when over something that is not their fault.
So I ask again, who gets to decide what "harm" is? If it goes all the way to the LOLberal view, then we should probably set up some check points to test people's patience. We dont want them "harming" someone else after all.
That is the difference here. We are guaranteed the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are not granted the right to be free from all of the obstacles, pitfalls and dangers that liberty presents.
If I break up with my girlfriend, I could cause her emotional harm. Should we get a law in place to make sure I am punished should this occur? There are a lot of ways people's behaviours can affect others. That does not mean that it has infringed on their constitutional rights.
I dont hink that the emotional pain of a breakup compares to the destruction of unrestrained drug addiction, whether it is alcohol or pot or heroin.