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Same sex marriage, polygamy, legalized drugs, legalized prostitution?

If you had to support or accept just one in changing existing law, which would it be?

  • Universally legalizing same sex marriage.

    Votes: 26 66.7%
  • Universally legalizing polygamy.

    Votes: 1 2.6%
  • Universally legalizing recreational drug use.

    Votes: 7 17.9%
  • Universally legalizing prostitution.

    Votes: 5 12.8%

  • Total voters
    39
I should say, I am little surprised at the results (so far). I would assume that most people in the "socially liberal" segment of our population - whether they are libertarians, moderates or social-democrats - will give the highest priority to abolishing the most destructive prohibitions. Instead, they opt for the issue that already has the most momentum.

Don't get me wrong, I was for gay rights long before it was fashionable, but innocent bystanders are not dying in drive-by shootings because of some turf wars between gays and straights, and nobody's daughter is in danger of overdosing on her low-quality lesbianism, purchased on a street corner.

Equality-shmequality. A great man of letters said once that all morality is based on the sense of proportion....

As I said, I would have voted for them all. However, for me this is a consitutional issue. Until every segment of our society enjoys equal protection and equal rights, that should be our main priority as a people.

I understand what you are saying, just as I would have understood if you had said the same in the 60's, where there were immensely pressing problems. I would have said then as I say now, the Civil Rights of all citizens, not just some citizens, should take precedence. I imagine that oppressed blacks living under institutionalized discrimination back in the day would agree. Fortunately, enough citizens of every race agreed that Civil Rights were passed, and no individuals regardless of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, etc., could be legally discriminated against.

Except for homosexuals.

Time to right the wrong, and yes, it's at the top of my personal list.
 
Gay marriage is the only one I would support, so given that I would rather have that than the others.
 
I should say, I am little surprised at the results (so far). I would assume that most people in the "socially liberal" segment of our population - whether they are libertarians, moderates or social-democrats - will give the highest priority to abolishing the most destructive prohibitions. Instead, they opt for the issue that already has the most momentum.

Don't get me wrong, I was for gay rights long before it was fashionable, but innocent bystanders are not dying in drive-by shootings because of some turf wars between gays and straights, and nobody's daughter is in danger of overdosing on her low-quality lesbianism, purchased on a street corner.

Equality-shmequality. A great man of letters said once that all morality is based on the sense of proportion....

IMO its pretty easy

grant equal rights grants equal rights and its done

making drugs legal will not stop people from overdosing or gang violence
 
making drugs legal will not stop people from overdosing or gang violence

Really? Look at the crime statistics during the Prohibition and after that particular Progressive insanity was nixed.

Oh, and the black-market moonshine was every bit as safe as a bottle of Absolute... Seriously...
 
Really? Look at the crime statistics during the Prohibition and after that particular Progressive insanity was nixed.

Oh, and the black-market moonshine was every bit as safe as a bottle of Absolute... Seriously...

yes really
i never said it would have an "impact" it just simply wouldnt stop it and people drink themselves to death now
 
yes really
i never said it would have an "impact" it just simply wouldnt stop it and people drink themselves to death now

You are dodging the real question.

The Idiotic War on (some) Drugs kills people, maims people, robs people of their future - right now, as we speak. The inability of gays to marry is wrong, wrong, wrong - but it does not cause as much suffering and destruction, by any stretch of imagination.

Ideals and ideas are important. The real, living, breathing people are more important. No?
 
1.)You are dodging the real question.

2.)The Idiotic War on (some) Drugs kills people, maims people, robs people of their future - right now, as we speak.

3.)The inability of gays to marry is wrong, wrong, wrong - but it does not cause as much suffering and destruction, by any stretch of imagination.

Ideals and ideas are important. The real, living, breathing people are more important. No?

1.) what? LMAO I dodged nothing lol

2.) i agree it does those things, and drugs will continue to do that when legal. Yes ia gree with you in lesser amount but it will still happen.

3.) i disagree, people not having equal rights i view as worse easily. You are free to disagree but theres nothing you say that will changes this for the simply fact of people simply dont have to buy/sell/use/transport illegal drugs.

4.) Yes and real living breathing people that are more important to me are the ones that are discriminated against and don't have equal rights rather than the ones that choose to break the law.

BUT i do support legalizing drugs to a point
 
I think they should all be legal. The abuses around prostituion, drugs, and polygamy generally happen when they are run in the shadows. Legalize them and by bringing htem into the light the abuses can be mitigated.

But if I can only pick one to legalize, or to legalize first, it would be SSM. For me equality under the law is important and at least polygamy, prostitution, and drugs are equally illegal for all of us.
 
I actually have to go with legalizing drug use. Seems like an inobvious choice, but I'll explain...

First of all, drug use, by FAR, affects the largest amount of people. More than half the US population has smoked marijuana, and that's just one illegal drug.

Second, it is largely drug use laws that are powering our prison culture, which destroys an unbelievable number of lives.

It also powers our cartels, which also destroys an unbelievable number of lives.

And it also stops addicts from getting help, by either throwing them in a cell or making them so afraid of the cell that they refuse to talk to anyone.

That number of lives these laws wreck is just far and away the biggest.

What I'd like to do isn't quite as simple as just "legalize everything," but it's in the neighborhood.
 
Same sex marriage. I'd hate for someone to tell me who I could or could not marry.
 
Universally legalizing same sex marriage.


Universally legalizing polygamy.


Universally legalizing recreational drug use.


Universally legalizing prostitution.


Maybe a year or eighteen months ago I would have said same sex marriage hands down. Being lesbian it seems obvious. Now that one goes out the window because everyday more and more I do not marriage in any form should be regulated by the government. I am for abolishing the entire institution as the divorce rate proves it does not work and means zero to half the people out there. If you look at the rate of infidelity the disrespect for the institution can reach numbers as high as 75%. I could not vote for this.

Next we have polygamy. This is a form of marriage and it goes out with all of the rest. I live in a polyamorous relationship with three other women. I don't need the government to say we are married. This is out.

The last two well they give me pause. Drugs, Prostitution. I have no problem with either being legal. I voted for the drugs because it is no worse than alcohol. If you can drink why not smoke pot or do something else. Why arrest people and load the prisons for this. If it is legal and the sales are regulated it takes the drug related crime out of the loop, prisons get less crowded and law enforcement can do other things.

I voted the drugs.
 
Joe drug user starts using heroine. Because of this eventually loses his ability to function at work and loses his job. His wife and kids have to get on food stamps creating a tax liability for others. He robs a convenience store to finance his next drug purchase triggering costs to the owner of the store.

1) You are stereotyping heroin users. The vast majority of heroin users are perfectly capable of holding a job.

2) If drugs like heroin were legal Joe's heroin fix would probably only cost about the same as a cup of coffee, so he probably wouldn't be robbing any convenience stores.
 
All of them.

Polygamy is nonsense, IMO - but if someone wants more then one spouse, it's none of my (or the state's) business.

The other three are no brainers - they should all be legalized.


If I had to choose just one - recreational drugs.
 
I absolutely go for same sex marriage first. The only other one I would also support legalizing would be prostitution, and only if it is strictly regulated. Polygamy would have to include a lot of fixes to the vast amount of legal issues that are bound to arise if we simply legalized it.

As for the drugs, I don't understand why so many believe that legalizing drugs would somehow wonderfully fix our drug problem. The most abused drugs in America are prescription drugs, drugs that can be legally gotten and are and yet people still misuse them constantly. In the past, it seemed that all the famous people died of illegal drugs, but the majority of the last famous deaths we have had due to drugs have been due to prescription drug abuse/misuse. To me, that just furthers says how stupid people are. I see no reason to just open access to all drugs and let people get what they want. It won't be all sunshine and rainbows. There will be many issues.

And the current prohibition of drugs cannot be compared to alcohol prohibition because we have so many different laws and taxes and regulations that have gone into place that aren't simply going away just because drugs are legalized. There would still need to be FDA approval. There would still be taxes, and a lot of them, placed on those drugs, likely as soon as they are legal, by as many people as can place such taxes. The cartels aren't going to simply throw their hands in the air and accept defeat either. And the gangs wouldn't just go away because drugs are legal. They would find something else or work their way into the system through the backdoor. Bootlegging still exists even for alcohol. And the only reason bootlegging didn't gain more hold was because the regulations and taxes on alcohol came about gradually over the last century. That won't be what happens if drugs are made legal.
 
Legalizing same sex marriage.
If I could pick two I'd pick legalizing prostitution.
I'm not really in favor of legalizing all drugs or polygamy.
 
1) You are stereotyping heroin users. The vast majority of heroin users are perfectly capable of holding a job.

2) If drugs like heroin were legal Joe's heroin fix would probably only cost about the same as a cup of coffee, so he probably wouldn't be robbing any convenience stores.

I think the point is that a lot of hard drug users are not exactly sympathetic characters and are a complete drain on society. I read a lot of interviews from ex-cons for my job, many who are on heroin and let's just say, their lives were crap before they ever got addicted or ran into the law.

Now what's really messed up about all this to me, is that gay couples cannot marry or adopt in most states, yet look at these complete failures at life with several kids from 3-4 fathers, and a serious addiction. I'm for ending the drug war, but let's not get carried away in sympathy. If you really care about these people, the only thing that will help them, in most cases, is relocating them or cleaning up their living environment, AND free required treatment. Who's going to accomplish that? Legalizing by itself is not enough.

For the rest, the majority who are harmless non addicted users, yeah law enforcement has too often been disgraceful. Michelle Alexander's book is an eye-opener for why the drug war needs to stop and that's not even going into the other side of the border.
 
i have never understood how the pro-choice folks rally around "womens reproductive rights", "the government should stay out of my womb", "womens right to choose", ect., ect.......why legalizing prostitution isnt on the top of their list, i mean the arguement for that far out weighs legalizing abortion in my opinion.
 
The same argument can be made about alcohol. Or fatty, sugary food, for that matter. But unless we want the whole country to turn into one big Bloomberg Kindergarten, we should concentrate on the present massive disasters brought on by the prohibition (violent crime, ruined neighborhoods, imprisonment for victimless crimes and subsequent social alienation, overdosing and poisoning by street drugs, etc ) rather than on potential rare cases of egregious abuse.

And legalization doesn't mean "lack of control" - quite the opposite: it makes actual regulation possible. Hard drugs like heroin are not going to be sold to everyone over 21 at the gas station. The addicts and "experimenting" types will have, for example, safe, monitored "opium-den-like" places at their service. If it worked in Victorian England, why can't it work now and here?

Can't accused me of being inconsistent. I support banning tobacco smoking anywhere others gather including in the privacy of one's home if underage children live there. I support banning cooking oils, sugar and non-whole grain wheat products from food stamp eligibility. I support modifying Obamacare to give annual rebates to people who meet certain healthy lifestyle benchmarks:

-Low cholesterol
-Low triglycerides
-Target body mass index (low body fat)
-Tobacco free
-Documented exercise enthusiast (runs in marathons, records indicates active health club use, team sports member, etc.)
-Voluntary drug testing with negative results
-Alcohol free including the issuance of new optional color coded divers licenses that tell merchants and restaurants this person is in the same category as an under 21 year old and recent DUI offender prohibited from buying alcoholic beverages.
 
1) You are stereotyping heroin users. The vast majority of heroin users are perfectly capable of holding a job.

2) If drugs like heroin were legal Joe's heroin fix would probably only cost about the same as a cup of coffee, so he probably wouldn't be robbing any convenience stores.

Sorry. :lol: Maybe so. I admittedly don't know a lot of heroine users but from everything I've heard thus far, it leads to a pretty messed up life.
 
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