law and morality

March 1 Is “Remember What Drugs Cost Society Day”

/ Jack Marshall / 18 Comments

Belushi

The District of Columbia is poised to completely legalize pot, which will be the most ringing of government endorsements of  societally destructive personal conduct, in a malfunctioning culture that should not be placed at further risk. This overwhelmingly black, poor, educationally-challenged and struggling population needs competent, trustworthy leadership and an injection of values.  It is a community, after all, that idolized the late Marion Barry, a mayor who smoked crack on the job, and never apologized for it. It’s not surprising that the adults in the District would tell the young African-Americans that it’s cool to spend their your money to get stupid, to avoid clear thought rather than practice it.

Every March 1, I watch this old clip (below) from Saturday Night Live  (it’s not on YouTube, so I can only link to it) , featuring the great, and thanks to recreational drugs, late John Belushi. It unfailingly makes me laugh out loud. It also makes me furious that a talent like this gave himself so little time to entertain us, because he killed himself with an insatiable appetite for illegal drugs.

For me, March 1 is “Remember What Drugs Cost Society Day.” Those arguing for our government placing a societal  seal of approval on these costs have yet to persuade me that it is ethical, wise or even sane to not just accept them, but to multiply them by a number unknown.

Here’s John Belushi (1949-1982), enlightening us about March around the world.

Law, Ethics and Gender: California’s “Bathroom Bill”

/ Jack Marshall / 31 Comments
Barry Bonds identifying as female...kind of like he identified as "not being on steroids"

Barry Bonds identifying as female…kind of like he identified as “not being on steroids”

The fur is flying in California and also in the internet culture wars over California’s latest foray into social engineering, officially known as Assembly Bill 1266, and popularly known as “the bathroom bill.” In its current form, the proposed legislation states…

“A pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs, and activities, and facilities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”

Here is such a wonderful example of the inherent limitations of laws as opposed to ethics that I’m considering having it framed and mounted. Continue reading →

Ethics Quote of the Week: Washington Post Columnist Michael Gerson

/ Jack Marshall / 8 Comments

“In determining who is a “major” candidate for president, let’s begin here. Those who support the legalization of heroin while mocking addicts are marginal. It is difficult to be a first-tier candidate while holding second-rate values.”

—-Washington Post columnist and former Bush advisor Michael Gerson, pronouncing presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul’s Libertarian endorsement of drug legalization ethically unacceptable.

Gerson’s deconstruction of the all-too-common and increasingly ominous calls for legalizing addictive drugs nicely captures the trio of ethical flaws of the advocacy: it denies the crucial and legitimate government role defining responsible conduct for society, it embraces the myth that recreational drug use “does no harm,” and it is arrogant and selfish, condemning the poor and reckless to problems that their fragile resources cope with, in order to bestow a dubious “freedom” that the drug advocates do not need. Continue reading →