Q: What does the proposed SOPA (“Stop Online Piracy Actâ€) legislation have in common with gun control?
A: Both would punish the innocent for the bad acts of a guilty few.
The article proceeds to tear apart the logic of gun control as being virtually identical to that of SOPA. I had never realized until I started interacting with gun control fanatics more how they really are incapable of drawing a distinction between responsible individuals and misusers. Their position is quite simple that because we have no good way of predetermining whether someone is responsible, or will misuse, we have to assume everyone will misuse. This is a poor basis for a free society.
Very, very true.
The presumption of misuse was the rationale for the Harrison Act (opiate and cocaine prohibition) and Eighteenth Amendment (booze). By 1925, the US was illegally importing almost 500,000 pounds of opiates a year. By 1933, the unintended consequences of Prohibition had led to the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, but we still are fighting (and loosing) a “war” on drugs.
Given almost a century of experience with “illegal” drugs, it is amazing that someone would think that schemes such as SOPA of PIPA wouldn’t be more trouble than they’re worth.
But such is the Progressive mind.
I humbly confess that my conservative mind has always been in favor of keeping narcotics illegal – until now.
After reading the arguments on this and similar blogs, and the reasoning of Ron Paul and other conservative, constitutional (even Christian) libertarians, I have changed my mind.
I won’t go into the details of it here, but in summary, people should be left alone to “reap what they sow” as long as they don’t unwarrantedly affect others. This would apply not only to drugs and in-home behavior, but also to possession of arms. Only those who actually violate the God-given rights of others should be detained and prosecuted IAW due process of law.
The result would be liberty as our Founders envisioned it!
Respectfully submitted,
Arnie
I’ll drink to that!
Well at least my congress critter opposes these bills. McCain fully supports it but then again he’s a co-sponsor. Don’t know about Kyle as I have yet to get a response and I can’t find anything going either way but I also suspect he fully supports it. I will be calling his office up as well.
In any case I plan to call up McCains office and make a couple of his staffers cry. Because the e-mail response I got from his staffers basically said “you’re and idiot, go fuck yourself”. I know he didn’t read my letter.