My Body Politic

March 19 / 8AM

As I've crossed over what could be deemed a quarter-life milestone (I'm now 26), I've gained a certain clarity with regards to my own political views. With respect to political understanding and consciousness, I think it fair to say that the first 20-25 years of our lives is spent in sort of an ideological haze. Most folks, including myself, start from a very early age with the belief that all politicians are liars - the base, overly simplistic point of view of too many Americans. Then, if you grew up in a middle/working class home, you're eventually taught, as I was, that the Republicans are basically the party of the privileged and the rich, while Democrats strive for nothing more than to level the playing field for the common man. Boil it down: the right is bad, the left is good.

And given the era in which my parents grew up, I can see that. The cool, soap star-esque demeanor of JFK embodied much of the mid-20th century Democrat; while Tricky Dick's shenanigans painted a nasty reputation for right-wingers everywhere.

Fortunately, in the era in which we now live, things aren't so cut and dry and most folks have now moved outside of this ideological two-party boxing ring and into the land of independents. I am one of those independents.

In the past year, a fair amount of thinking, ample readings of Charles Murray's What It Means to Be a Libertarian, and a feverish compulsion to listen to Jay Severin and WTKK at every turn has allowed me to realize that virtually all of my political views pass this litmus test: "If you ain't hurtin' anybody else, keep on keepin' on."

(Say it out loud with a Southern accent. It's hilarious. No, really.)

Great. WTF does that mean?

It means "not in my back yard". It means every man is an island. It's proud isolationism and libertarianism (that's libertarianism with a lower case "l"). Do whatever you damn well please as long as it's not hurting me or anyone else. The keyword here is anyone else. Your body is just that - yours. Much like your car, your house, your iPod, etc. - you have the absolute right to do with it as you wish. That includes doing anything to, placing anything in, or destroying your own body as you see fit.

Here and in ongoing updates to this post, I'll continue to flush out my political views on virtually every civic and social topic, all the while measuring these views against the afore-mentioned litmus test.

Abortion / Women's Right to Choose

This will always be a grey area with no clear solution. I fall, with the slimmest of margins, on the side of pro-choice.

Drugs

Smoke, inhale, ingest, or suck on anything you like. It's your body. As The Netherlands long ago realized, this is much more of a health problem, and not a legal one. Now if you decide to get high as a kite, hop in your car, and mow down a crowd of schoolchildren, we'll fry your ass. The drug is not the problem here - the total lack of responsibility on the part of the individual is. Any thinking adult knows this.

Gay Marriage

Against. That is, I'm against state-sanctioned gay marriage, because I'm against all state-sanctioned marriage of any kind. The notion that the government has the omnipotent authority to preside over my love and the devotion therein is ludicrous. The state has no business in this business. That said, if the government is going to be in the business of putting society's stamp of approval on marriages, then allowing gay marriage means allowing [fill-in-the-blank] marriage also. Man/sheep marriages, woman/woman/penguin marriages, et. al. If you don't agree, and would rather simply mark me as gay-basher, you're either not thinking or reading this post hard enough.

Guns / Right to Bear Arms

Absolutely for. Putting aside the fact that this right is guaranteed by the Constitution, it's the same as the drug argument. Here it is, in all it's glorious cliché: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."

Suicide

All for it. Hang, jump, or blow yourself away. You're not hurting anyone else.

(More updates to come ... That's all I care to wax philosophic on at 9 a.m. on a Sunday morning.)

What Now?

Digg This Post
Add This Post to Del.icio.us
Comment on this post (below)

Comments

web | March 20, 2006 08:20 AM

Playing devils advocate (as I walkways do) your campaign of do whatever you do as long as your not hurting someone else -- is in direct conflict of your stance on guns. True that guns don’t kill people, people do.. that is people with guns. Maybe we let them keep the guns and just tax the AMMO incredibly ($500) a bullet to pay for all the death, lawsuits and court fees they generate. I don’t think there is almost any reason to have a gun, other than to protect yourself against somebody with one. See Great Brittan -- I don’t even think their regular police carry guns.