Authoritarianism

As liberal as I am (not very, but enough), Isn't some authoritariansism better, if it has a net benefit for society as a whole. things i'm talking about here are criminalisation of drugs for example. DV seems to be made up of mainly Liberals/libertarians so I just wondered what peoples take on this was. In most western societies, in the US especially, it seems that the right of individuals is placed above that right of others not to have to suffer at the hands of others freedom, both directly, (I suppose offending millions by flag burning for the sake of 1 flag burner is a good example) and indirectly (increased Tax costs by the public to help both illegal and illegal drug users get medical treatment).

IMO, net benefits for society take the back seat in favor of free individuals. In fact, free individuals may very well have a net benefit to society. Forcing individuals to do something usually has the opposite effect.

You can't really have "some authoritarianism", it's usually all or nothing.

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Originally Posted by Spartiate

You can't really have "some authoritarianism", it's usually all or nothing.

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Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

You are spot on correct, once you introduce an infantile amount of authority, it grows like a disease left un-treated, government is the disease.

We have to find a way to control the disease.

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Originally Posted by guerilla

government is the disease.

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No, authoritarianism is :P. There's government, then there's oppressive government...

I can see why you say that but I believe any government is oppressive, all of them. :)

(but obviously our ideologies are not the same, but that's okay with me) You are still cool in my book.

The question is, can you ever trust an authority to make it's goal to benefit society as a whole? If they don't, how do you propose their authority be removed?

I don't want to focus too much on your drug example, since it will no doubt spawn a debate on that specific subject, but who gets to decide what is legal and what is not(or what is benefitial and what is not)? What exactly is the difference between heroin and oxycodone?