I agree with you too. The government should fully endorse and suggest things good for public health and safety etc. But that it is where line is drawn... at suggestion. They can tell me to wear a seat belt all they want.. but when they start arresting/fining me for it.. THAT is where I get a little upset. Or where I would. I'm intelligent enough to know to wear one... It's sad, really. When I get in a car with people my age... and buckle up in the back seat they all say, "Dude, what are you doing? You're not sitting in the front... they can't tell if you're wearing your seatbelt or not." And I just mentally headdesk myself on the headrest for two reasons... One being that I'm not wearing my seat belt for the cops... I'm wearing it for me. And two being that yes, yes they can tell. Maybe not as easily... but they are still trained to spot those violations...
I tell them that I like being safe and they kinda laugh or whatever.. but you know.. if we get in a crash.. they will be the ones that are gonna die.. yanno? Kinda harsh.. but they aren't exactly my "friends" so I don't really care if they decide to be so stupid. If someone does.. then they can come over and buckle them up.
EDIT: This thread is about control. And my want for less of it. Suggesting is not control to me. Control is when they have ability to penalize or otherwise reprimand me for doing something they don't like(believe is detrimental)... Now, that might make a good mother, but not a good government.
EDIT EDIT: But also... what does that even have to do with anything? Is that not what we just discussed?
ALSO, I MISSED THIS.
You spoke of Personal Affairs and Legalized Marijuana. Most people who smoke Marijuana do it to make food taste better. Even though there ARE people who use it medicinally, the demographic of 'potheads' are much higher. I don't say this to be offensive, but if you seriously search 'legalized marijuana' on google, you'll get 1 of 3 things
1. News Story coverage.
2. Reddit memes covering it.
3. Pictures of addicts living on the streets, or random 'bums'. (Often associated with Marijuana... idk why)
Marijuana doesn't make food taste better, haha. I think you got some misinformation. Marijuana stimulates the appetite and makes people hungry. When people are hungry... food "tastes better" because they are simply glad to have some food. The only offensive thin that you did was put smoking weed in line with rape. It wasn't intentional, however, so I'm not offended anymore. Being a "pothead" isn't anything bad. It just means you are known for smoking a lot of weed. If that is bad, I don't know. That's opinion. I don't think so, but I know plenty of people who do.
ALSO: I googled it and the first page(minus one link to wikipedia) was about the Colorado/Washington legalization. And that does not surprise me.. They way that most search engines work is that they provide you with the most recent trends in page hits for webpages containing the words you googled. With that being the most recent news... it only makes sense. Give it a while, and it'll be something else. I saw no reddit memes and no images of bums(not even in google images). So I take that offensively as you obviously made it based on your own perception of "potheads" and not what Google actually had in store.
As for Personal Affairs, I assume it's either a family argument, domestic violence, or a rapist. Since most females (or males) that are raped tend not to tell anyone until they're given the help they need.
By personal affairs, I mean matters that affect only them. Obviously enough the government should step into stop rape... but they should not step in to stop me from smoking a joint. Domestic violence is also a crime that harms someone other than the perpetrator. But to give you an example you might understand easier... It would be kind of like the government making it illegal for the family to argue because it make affect them badly mentally. Arguing doesn't really "harm" anyone but the people who decide to take part in it. I'm not going to be an emotional wreck because my neighbors got in argument. I might call about a noise complaint... but that is a different situation entirely. It also would be different if the parent was yelling at/verbally abusing their child... that is not an argument and THAT affects more than the perpetrator in adverse ways. I mean... some things are going to make you feel bad... and you're just gonna have to suck it up, but lines are drawn. Obviously it wouldn't be illegal for a parent to reprimand their child, so long as their "punishment" is not abusive in either physical or verbal means.
I never said the government couldn't have control over the police force... wait.. OK maybe I misunderstood myself. What I meant to imply was that the Government should ONLY be allowed to butt in with Police Force affairs as long as the crime was pre-meditated or etc. They shouldn't have COMPLETE control over the Police, otherwise the Police Force turns into the catalyst for spying on other Americans they have no business spying on.
Well what I meant is that the police force has rules to adhere to. Rules set by the federal government. One such "rule" is that they are merely enforcers of the law, not judicators. That they can arrest someone for breaking a law, but they cannot pass official judgment on whether they are guilty or innocent... nor they can decide the punishment. The punishment would, first of all, have to be standard for everyone. The only route I could see the police taking to "make their own punishment" is by offering solutions to arrest. By saying, "If you do x, we won't arrest you." But again, that is not something they are supposed to do, either.
Just what I always thought. Didn't mean to offend. If I did, I apologize.