[ExI] libertarians nominate none of these

[efc at swisscows.email]

On Thu, 28 Mar 2024, Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat wrote:

>> Consider just how news about drugs (prescription, OTC, illegal)
>> travels the web.  Superstitions abound amid some probably good
>> advice.  Add in that a significant portion of the population are
>> mentally challenged, are psychotic, are just plain stupid, and you
>> have a recipe for hundreds of thousands of people harming themselves
>> and others (including their children) by taking prescription drugs
>> they really have no idea how to use properly ("If I take two won't
>> that work faster and better?").  Opiates will addict millions and
>> many will die of overdoses.  You think it's bad now?
>>
>
> As a stoic, I don't see death as the worst thing in the world. As a
> transhumanist, I also want radical life extension. So there is an
> internal conflict there, to be sure.

How do you deal with that conflict? Have you attempted any type of
reconciliation of your values?

>> What this view of legalizing comes down to is Social Darwinism - "If
>> you are stupid enough to take the drug you deserve the effects,
>> including death."  You might swallow that line for adults (I don't),
>> but what about the children who are dosed by parents (or peers- I
>> assume no age limit for purchasing drugs)?
>>
>
> I'm pretty much there for adults. How does this differ from today's
> situation in which an adult Jehovah's Witness can prevent their child
> from having a life giving blood transfusion? Just because it's dressed
> up as religion, it's still a pig. And I do support having different
> rules for minors. While I support legalizing prostitution for adults,
> I do not approve for minors because they are not at an age where they
> can give informed consent. Same with drugs. If you're a minor, there
> should be some limits.

Children and childrens rights is one of the hardest problems for
libertarianism in my opinion, at least from a philosophical point of
view.

The standard answer I've seen is that children are the "property" of the
parents until they are old enough to move away or argue their rights. As
you can see, hardly a very satisfying answer.

Then you end up in the theoretical battle grounds of "what is parents
want to kill their child, if he's their property, they are entitled to
do that, ergo... libertarianism is wrong". Well, I'm sure you all know
the drill from there.

>> This is just unacceptable to me.  Sometimes we need a nanny state.  I
>> have to accept that and the limitations it puts on me regardless of
>> the fact that I am not stupid, psychotic, superstitious, and so on.
>> Making all drugs available to all people will create a nightmare.
>>
>
> I don't like the nanny state, at all. Period. If Darwinism isn't
> allowed to get some of us, imagine what the human race might look like
> in 1000 years?

I like the movie idiocracy as a fun/scary exploration of this theme.

>> The Interstate Highway System was started because Eisenhower wanted
>> it so the defense department could mobilize and get places faster in
>> case of war/invasion.
>>
>
> Understood. But now it's to the point where we could choose to move
> past that, if we wanted to. In it's time the current form of the
> interstate highway system was justified for national defence which I
> see as one of the few areas where governance is actually necessary.
>
> Sorry for being so anti-government, but I've had a lot of negative
> experiences interacting with the bastards.

I think anti-government, in this day and age, is a very healthy point of
view. I'm very anti-government too, because for a big part of my life I
was forced by threat of violence, to hand over about 65% of my income to
the state and I feel this has robbed me of opportunities for developing
myself and living the way I want do.

Now I'm in a better position, but the ultimate goal of 0% still sits at
the end of the rainbow. ;)

Best regards, 
Daniel


>
> -Kelly
>
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