<a href='https://talkpolitics.dreamwidth.org'>Talk politics.

Anyone who claims to want less government in our lives is a hypocrite if they oppose this bill.

I don't think this is a supportable assertion. One could think government should be smaller generally, but still support speed limits, proscription of intoxicants, and more rigorous regulation of speculation in commodities.

Edited Date: 24/6/11 01:26 (UTC)

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I think it's very supportable. The basic idea behind smaller government is to prevent waste and to grant more freedom. Marijuana prohibition does neither, in fact it encourages the opposite.

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Then one could make the same claim about the regulation of speculation in commodities, compulsory public education, or all kinds of things. I'm not sure position "I think the government should be smaller and less invasive than it is, but I am in favor of compulsory public education" is an inherently hypocritical one.

Also, it may be useful to differentiate between "hypocrisy" and "philosophical inconsistency."

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Ah well then we're talking semantics and not actual policy.

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telemann.livejournal.com

Formal logical arguments, ya know ..... *wink wink wink*

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We're actually now talking about two things: 1) the fact that someone who is in favor of smaller government generally -- but believes that there should be compulsory public education -- is not of necessity philosophically inconsistent and 2) that "hypocrisy" may not mean what you think it means.

We could also perhaps raise another issue -- to wit, nuance.

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Or maybe people shouldn't make claims to such absolutes if they believe in such varied nuances. That's why I have problems with some of these labels, pro-life, pro-choice, etc. It's about getting an emotional reaction. It may not be the same as a vegetarian eating meat but it's not far off either.

"The solution is less government" really means "the solution is less government for me, not necessarily for others." It's intellectual dishonesty at its finest.

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Or maybe people shouldn't make claims to such absolutes if they believe in such varied nuances.

Maybe. And maybe one can a more effective and credible argument in favor of the decrimimalization of marijuana by avoiding demonstrably false assertions about other people's "hypocrisy."

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Not sure where you actually demonstrated falsehood but okies.

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By 1) demonstrating that belief in a principle generally does not of necessity require adherence in every particular to the greatest conceivable extreme (compulsory public education being offered as one counter-example) and 2) pointing out that even if logical inconsistency could be argued, it would still not constitute "hypocrisy" -- which is something else entirely.

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No. People can easily not want the government taxing "sugary" soda and french fries, and not take over the health system while at the same time be against legalizing streetwalking and crystal meth.

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They can be but then should give up claims for wanting smaller government if they support a law that is both wasteful and doesn't protect society.

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"they support a law that is both wasteful and doesn't protect society"

That's not a well agreed upon fact, and a person certainly cannot be called a hypocrite because they support or oppose something that you think does something when they don't think that.

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You can disagree, that's definitely your right. But if you can illustrate why you think it's not the case then I'd love to hear your reasons.

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I do think it's the case the marijuana prohibition is harmful to the U.S. and very harmful to Mexico and Central America, but that is completely irrelevant.

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dwer.livejournal.com

it's the prohibition part that's damaging, tho.

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a-new-machine.livejournal.com

Smaller != smallest. "Smaller than it is now, but bigger than minarchist" is a perfectly reasonable outcome when someone says they want "smaller" government.

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Apparently, one has no choice but to be either rigidily doctrinaire or a "hypocrite."

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meus-ovatio.livejournal.com

That's how strawmen work.

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Hypocrisy has to be the most overly misused charge out there.

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