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Fine as far as it goes, but public/private only matters to the extent others are affected. Joel Send a noteboard - 09/07/2011 11:15:33 AM
In both cases it boils down to who has authority over a persons body, them, or someone else, so answering each question differently is inconsistent at best and hypocritical at worst.


my opinion of something is based on whether its a private or public thing. what people do in private is different to what people do in public. abortion is a private thing, it happens in hospitals not on the street. helmets wearing however is a public thing.

or to put it another way:

if you own a huge bit of land and want to act like a reckless tit-end on it, then that's your prerogative. acting like a reckless tit-end on a main road however is unacceptable.

make sense?

That's why you can't ban wearing shirts that say, "religion is dumb" or "environmentalism is immoral". Denying people the liberty to express offensive views infringes on their rights far more than hearing them infringes on anyone elses, so we don't do it. "Recklessness" is rather the central issue here; we and our laws generally accept that people can be fairly reckless with their own lives, but not those of others. Again, that's why you can bungee jump off a public bridge or sky dive through public air; it's rather absurd to say things things like that should be legal but the state has the authority to force motorcyclists and bicyclists to wear helmets to "keep them safe". Likewise, the fact you're on your own private land doesn't give you the legal right to torture and murder other people (which is one of the reasons people argue against even private abortions, and if a fetus could be proven a person the law would be on their side), it just means the cops need evidence to suspect you before they can come look for proof. Forcing others to live as you think best doesn't keep anyone safe, even if you convince 51% of the public to agree on what's "best". And by the way, I find all the talk of childishness a rather amusing attempt to justify what amounts to "everyone must do what I say and anyone who won't is stupid".
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This message last edited by Joel on 09/07/2011 at 11:21:07 AM
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You can't make this stuff up: Helmet law protester dies in crash - 05/07/2011 08:47:14 PM 873 Views
Kinda undermines his protest *NM* - 05/07/2011 09:01:50 PM 256 Views
Just a tad bit *NM* - 05/07/2011 09:06:24 PM 233 Views
How so? He wasn't demanding the right to survive crashes when only a helmet makes that possible. - 05/07/2011 11:06:44 PM 545 Views
New York feels that people should have to wear helmets for their own safety - 05/07/2011 11:20:36 PM 518 Views
He felt his own safety was his own concern. - 06/07/2011 12:07:05 AM 457 Views
Who do you think would have ended up paying for his care for the rest of his life if the accident - 06/07/2011 01:08:49 AM 603 Views
The same people who pay for everyone else whose actions render them vegetables. - 06/07/2011 01:50:20 AM 712 Views
Maybe a more effective argument you could use against me would be pointing out - 06/07/2011 02:33:21 AM 506 Views
Yeah, that is a better example. - 06/07/2011 03:03:01 AM 488 Views
Oops, ignore! *NM* - 06/07/2011 11:44:10 PM 307 Views
Now, who said irony wasn't funny? *NM* - 05/07/2011 09:22:58 PM 364 Views
what a fricking idiot - 05/07/2011 10:02:17 PM 686 Views
That's your opinion to which you're entitled. - 05/07/2011 11:19:36 PM 927 Views
Anarchy, baby! *NM* - 06/07/2011 12:58:23 AM 464 Views
Uh Joel... - 06/07/2011 03:38:24 AM 542 Views
Sorry, but that doesn't make sense - 06/07/2011 07:02:33 PM 744 Views
Yes it does - 06/07/2011 07:32:54 PM 487 Views
how many people are really seriously injured that way? - 06/07/2011 07:15:16 PM 706 Views
Did you actually read my post? - 06/07/2011 07:36:13 PM 607 Views
my ex had 3 cracked ribs from an accident like that - 07/07/2011 02:46:07 AM 650 Views
Re: That's your opinion to which you're entitled. - 06/07/2011 05:18:12 PM 708 Views
Re: That's your opinion to which you're entitled. - 06/07/2011 06:13:44 PM 775 Views
Hold the phone here... - 06/07/2011 07:49:10 PM 874 Views
+1 *NM* - 06/07/2011 08:42:14 PM 322 Views
You agree with him that the abortion debate is about a mothers convenience versus the babys life? - 06/07/2011 10:48:52 PM 613 Views
im not bringing abortion into this, its a separate issue *NM* - 06/07/2011 10:56:17 PM 308 Views
It's really not. - 07/07/2011 12:20:10 AM 644 Views
i'm really not - 07/07/2011 03:34:23 PM 717 Views
Fine as far as it goes, but public/private only matters to the extent others are affected. - 09/07/2011 11:15:33 AM 680 Views
What else could the debate be about? - 06/07/2011 10:58:51 PM 579 Views
"The babys life", not just "life". - 07/07/2011 12:18:02 AM 906 Views
I think I could make that up. *NM* - 05/07/2011 11:41:00 PM 257 Views
Smartass *NM* - 06/07/2011 12:57:22 AM 262 Views
Helmets help save lives. 'Onest. - 07/07/2011 04:40:42 PM 646 Views

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