Posted on 08/05/2005 7:58:01 PM PDT by SeanEBoy
“This whole idea of personal autonomy, while I don’t think most conservatives hold that point of view, some do. They have this idea that people should be left alone. Be able to do whatever they want to do; government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low. We shouldn’t get involved in the bedroom and we shouldn’t get involved in cultural issues. You know, people should be able to do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world, and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can’t go it alone; that there is no is no such society, that I’m aware of, where we’ve had radical individualism and that it succeeds as a culture.”—Rick Santorum, 04 August 2005, Morning Edition on NPR (emphasis added)
I do know what it is like to live in an area where drug use and prostitution was rampant, where there were needles and pipes outside the schools, where you couldn't stroll in the local park without running into prostitutes.
A lot of this was cut down by vigilant community and police action. One can walk through the park now, and those entrepreneurial groups of young people congregated on the corner have all but disappeared.
You think society would be better off if nothing could actually be done about such things. I think society would be worse off, I've SEEN what can happen to communities where morality is lax.
What you propose would make vice more prevalent, not less prevalent. It is not conservative at all to say that a society with more crackheads, more dope addicts, and rampant immorality would be better.
You are trying to impose your values system on society. Your values system posits that the only kinds of harm are those that are physical or harm property. This is not a value that society currently holds, and it is not a value that this society has EVER held. Thus, you are advocating a change in societal values. That is the opposite of conservatism.
I'm not a pure libertarian and I'm not saying there should be no drug laws, but we've got lots and lots of drug laws now, and we've spent countless billions trying to tell people that doing drugs is really bad for them. To what end?
Again, these are all local issues, though. When you're community worked together, things improved. No federal grant or bloviating, self-rightous, pork-addicted interloper can make that happen. Only your community could.
Heinlein was basically a Libertarian and, while not a complete libertairan myself, I tend to agree with most of their theses.
Some have posted that "you can not legislate morals" and then diverge from morals to mores. That which is socially acceptable can not be legislated, but basic morality, right vs wrong, can and must be legislated.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.