Laurabelle's Blog

I picked this one up from Aquarion, whose interview class (as in CSS, not teaching) I greatly admire and which I have shamelessly copied. Copy-and-paste (and tweak) was easy, but then I spent about an hour mucking about with Photoshop to create my own icons. It would have helped if I had any experience with Photoshop. I suppose I'm lucky that I was at school and didn't have to tackle the GIMP just for two letters and some transparency.

The most interesting thing about this meme, I think, is not so much what people think but why they think it. I'm not at all surprised when my friends turn out to have approximately the same political bent that I do, but everyone gets there by a different path. And even when I disagree with someone else's opinion, it helps to know what the background is.

What do I think of...

Abortion?

I don't have a black-and-white answer on this one. I am without a doubt pro-choice, which for me means that the parents (mainly the mother, but maybe I'm prejudiced, since I'm female and it's the female body we're talking about) have the right to choose. It's never an easy decision to make in any circumstances, and I think that the substantial trauma involved (both mental and physical) is enough to make abortion an absolute last resort.

In situations where an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother, the case is pretty clear. When it's not, I still believe in the right to choose. If having the child is going to be a significant hardship on the parents and both they and the child are going to have a miserable, poor, possibly crime-ridden life, how is that better than abortion?

The thing that really gets me is that the people who are most vocally anti-abortion are also against contraception and other measures which would cut down on the need for abortions in the first place. Sheesh. (I refuse to call these people pro-life because the most vocal of them are also warmongers and all for sending grown men off to kill and be killed, but that's obviously just me picking nits. Logical consistency isn't cool.)

In terms of law, I approve of the solutions in countries like Germany, where abortion is legal during the first trimester (I think), but counseling before the procedure is mandatory. Counseling can be either religious or secular.

Death Penalty?

Nope.

First of all, we're wrong too much. There is no way to be absolutely completely without-a-doubt sure that a certain person committed a crime. Evidence can be faked, confessions can be coerced, and although these things aren't supposed to happen, it's not worth an innocent man's life to gamble that they don't.

Secondly, who's to say what crime is worth death? Who's to say that a criminal can't learn to be a better person (though I don't think our penal system is helping matters any)?

There's a limit to how much we can play God.

Prostitution?

I have a realistic view that prostitution has been with us for millennia, and it's not going away any time soon. Therefore, my attitude is much the same as Aquarion's: Legalize, Sanitize, Regulate.

Legalization doesn't mean that it's morally right. Law does not have the luxury of being synonymous with ethics. What legalization means is the elimination or significant reduction of the risks involved with prostitution, for everyone involved.

Think about serial killers like Jack the Ripper or (closer to home) the Green River Killer, who prey on prostitutes because no one cares about them. No one sees them, and they're very hard to track. What if every prostitute were registered? Imagine how much better police would be able to track down criminals that prey on that segment of society, as well as other crimes related to prostitutes and prostitution.

Alcohol?

I don't like it much myself, but other people are free to, as long as they're responsible about it.

Marijuana?

It kills your brain cells and shrinks your testicles, but other than that, you should be free to run (and possibly ruin) your own life. Again, legalize, sanitize, regulate.

Other drugs?

Legalize, sanitize, regulate.

I'm inclined to be much less permissive with harder drugs than with tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, but I still believe that legalization provides the invaluable opportunity for problem control. If drugs were legal, rehab programs could provide alternative methods for getting off them (other than cold-turkey, which works for some but not for all), and quality and dosage could be regulated. Deaths from unintentional overdosing could be eliminated. Prices could be regulated. Drugs could generate tax revenue. The possibilities are endless!

Unfortunately, some people's pockets are being lined too much by the war on drugs for the government to seriously consider legalization.

Smoking?

Not in my backyard, but you're free to trash your own body.

Gay marriage?

Bring it on!

Oh, and gays and lesbians should be allowed to adopt children, too. The homosexuals I know with kids are the best parents ever. The kids often have multiple parents of both sexes, and I can't imagine a better situation. This is the absolute antithesis of abortion. (Hmm. People against abortion are generally also against gay marriage and gay adoption. Uhh, why don't you want anyone to adopt the kids you don't want to be aborted?)

Illegal immigrants?

I don't know. I don't feel like I know enough about all the issues to have a really informed opinion. Generally, I think that all people have a right to legal protection, fair wages, etc., and legalization allows for greater control. People are going to come anyway, whether they're legal or not, so we might as well afford them legal protection.

Drunk driving?

It's stupid and evil. Is this a real question?

Cloning?

Cloning organs would be amazing. I'm not sure what I think about cloning humans. How would it be different from test-tube babies? I don't fully know what the uses or implications would be.

Racism?

See drunk driving above.

Premarital sex?

Personal choice. Sex is risky, both physically and emotionally, but people should have the freedom and the ability to make informed decisions about their own lives.

Religion?

There's a place for religion, but I don't think one religion should dominate our world and especially not our government. I am very skeptical of people who follow a religion of love and peace but who throw stones at the first opportunity. This applies both to Christians and to Muslims, to mention the two that are in the news lately, though I'm sure there are others.

The war in Iraq?

We should not have started it, but now that we're there, we need to stick it out. I really feel for the soldiers who are over there getting picked off and for their nerve-wracked families, but we need to do our best to fix the problems we've created.

The fix, by the way, involves admitting we've been morons and asking humbly for help from the UN and from everyone else that we've dissed several times over.

Bush?

Don't get me started. No, really.

Downloading music?

I assume this means illegal file sharing. If the copyright owner hasn't given permission, then it's not okay. I know CDs are grossly overpriced, but the way to affect that is to stop buying music, not just to get your fix somewhere else. If people aren't sharing illegally, the record companies can't argue that's the reason sales are down, and they'll have to lower prices.

The legal drinking age?

I'm not sure that the legal ages for things in the US make sense. Teenagers can drive at 16 in many states but have to wait until they're 21 to drink, which doesn't really make sense in terms of the potential harm that they can do to themselves or to other people. It's a product of our screwy Protestant culture. On the other hand, I'm not sure what I'd change it to.

Porn?

Not for me, thanks.

The really sad thing, I think, is the risks involved for the people involved in making porn movies. The Stranger's Last Days reported a couple of weeks ago that there is a new outbreak of HIV in the porn-movie biz. A male porn star has tested HIV-positive, and all the women he's worked with since his last test have been quarantined. What makes this thought so horrible for me is that there is no safe sex in the porn world — who wants to see people being prudent and responsible? No, it's bare unprotected anal sex, which as we all know is just great for HIV transmission. Ick.

Suicide?

It's horrible and sad, but I don't think you'll go to hell for it. (It helps that I don't believe in hell.)