[extropy-chat] whose ox is gored

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Al Brooks <kerry_prez at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Let's take one random example of the naturally
> selective judgement of freemarketers. They clearly see
> that smokers have a right to smoke however they
> generally ignore the right of gays to legal marriage,
> and they usually rationalise their bias in economic
> terms. At best they bring up slippery slope political
> arguments, e.g. 

You are making false assumptions. I don't think anybody ignores the
right of gays to whatever contractual relationship they want. What you
are ignoring is that free marketers want government out of marriage
altogether. Just because government offers one group a special contract
doesn't mean everyone is entitled to it, or that they should waste more
money on it.

> 
> "allowing gays to marry will bring up questions such
> as should polygamy be legal? group marriage?
> non-reproducing sibling marriage?" 

It isn't a question. Polygamy should be legal, and Vermont's civil
unions law HAD to make incestuous civil unions legal to make gay civil
unions legal.

> 
> IMO smokers ought to be permitted to smoke almost
> anywhere. The exceptions? Perhaps smoking should never
> be permitted in a restaurant next to a table where a
> mother is holding an infant. It goes without saying
> smoking will never be allowed in nursery schools and
> kindergartens. 

Business owners should be free to set their own smoking policies. The
rights of the smoker doesn't enter into it, we are talking about the
rights of business owners and homeowners to dictate how they use their
own property.

Nursery schools and kindergartens owned by the state are the property
of the state and the state can set whatever policies it wants for those buildings.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com


		
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