Reply #68: I lean towards the libertarian side of the personal choice spectrum. [View All]

Authoritarians, be they "left" or right, tend to piss me off immeasurably.

In my mind, consenting adults should have the right to make their own damn choices about their lives and bodies- be that if they want to smoke, watch consenting adult porn, screw other consenting adults, drive what they want, use birth control or otherwise exercise reproductive choice (as it applies to having kids OR not having kids) use drugs or choose a dignified, pain free exit if terminally ill. As long as people aren't endangering or interfering with others, I'm pretty much of the opinion that their business should be their own.

That said, I also don't think that it's unreasonable for states and municipalities to say that if people want to smoke, they can do so- but that they can't do it in certain indoor, public places. I don't think asking folks to step out to the curb is an undue burden on their right to smoke. And yes, if pot was legal I would expect it could be regulated in just the same fashion. And as far as SUVs go; your right to drive whatever you want doesn't, in my book, entitle you to endless free sympathy when gas (an environmentally destructive, limited resource) prices continue to go up. And although this should go without saying, the right to drive an SUV or a massively oversized truck doesn't come with a blank check to drive like an aggressive ass, overcompensating for whatever by ramming one's big, honkin, extra-elevated headlights up the rear of smaller, saner cars.

But I agree in full with the concept of the OP. I find authoritarianism and second-guessing of other people's personal choices irritating as shit, no matter which side of the ideological spectrum it comes from.