[484] in libertarians
Re: ACLU
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vernon Imrich)
Thu Dec 8 19:20:59 1994
To: tjic@ICD.teradyne.com (Travis Corcoran)
Cc: libertarians@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 08 Dec 1994 15:40:01 EST."
<9412082040.AA19757@difrel.ICD.Teradyne.COM>
Date: Thu, 08 Dec 1994 19:19:20 EST
From: Vernon Imrich <vimrich@MIT.EDU>
|> > Date: Thu, 08 Dec 1994 14:45:41 EST
|> > From: <sybok@MIT.EDU>
|>
|>
|> Thanks for the great information! Some comments on one of the
|> articles that you forwarded to us:
That was good info. I'm putting in the libertarains locker.
|> > *Drugs should not be prohibited by law*.
|> > *School discipline must be strictly limited*.
|> > *Few crimes should be punished by jail*.
I am surprised at how open they are about these. Very good ACLU
(pat, pat, on their head).
|> disagree. I think I take the standard libertarian position on this
|> one.
I'm not sure there is one. The LP has a bit of tension between
anti-death penalty people like me and pro harsh punisment people.
I think the purpose of justice should be to first prevent further
damage (why jail is ok), and second, provide an avenue for
restitution. I do not belive in deterrance as a motivator of any kind
(except to make people try not to get caught) and think most punishment
is a form of revenge for angry people (which I suppose is emotional
restitution at least). As long as they can be made useful, convicts
should work for the state, with wages/profit going to those they
violated.
|> > *Workfare is unconstitutional*.
|> > *The Constitution mandates increased welfare spending*.
|> > *Equal pay for equal work is not enough*.
Laughable, I must say.
|> > *No more rescue attempts of American hostages or secret
|> > operations against terrorists*.
|>
|> Disagree.
Dislike covert ops, but as part of an OVERT overall strategy
they are ok. E.g. president asks for some limited power/declaration
of war or foreign emergency "I want to wage war on Libyan terrorists"
then the specifics of a given raid are secret. In most wars we
run lots of covert missions. Fine as long as overal state of war
is declared.
|> > *There can be no military draft, even in wartime*.
|> > *U.S. officials owe U.S. constitutional protections to foreigners
|> > overseas*.
More kudos for the ACLU here.
|> > *Churches and synagogues should lose their tax-exempt status*.
As a matter of civil liberty I don't see this.
|> > *The First Amendment protects all pornography, including child
|> > porn*.
|> > *Rating movies is itself an unconstitutional prior restraint*.
|> > *Prostitution should be legal*.
More kudos. (The ratings are done by "pressuring" i.e. threats.)
|> > *Homosexuals can be foster parents*.
|>
|> I'd lean against this, but I do not maintain that my position is the
|> normal Libertarian Party one.
CAN is the operative word here. I agree.
|> > *The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill was required by
|> > law*.
Watch the movie "Nuts" with Barbara Streisand. This is an interesting
issue. Still the "required by law" part may be too strong.
All in all though, I'm really torn. Of the above the score is:
WIN LOSS TIE
9 4 2
Add in gun control, and campus laxity and you have:
9 5 3
If you consider a tie the same as a loss (i.e. your dollar is wasted
by not going to help something else) then its 9-8. Very close.
The interesting thing is, if their support of the end to drug
prhobition ever occurs, the "civilian gun war" they seem so
worried about will end with it. I see these two things as
inextricably linked. The logic of both is practically the same.
(Particularly if you think drug use under controlled circumstances
can be a ok thing, smokers and caffien drinkers included.)
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| Vernon Imrich | market failure, n. The inabilty of the |
| MIT OE, Rm 5-329b | market to recover from a blow by |
| Cambridge, MA 02139 | intervention. (The Exchange) |
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