Tim McNamara wrote:
In article
,
Andy Evans wrote:

People should be free to be daft, at least to a degree. As a
former governor of my state observed, you can't legislate against
stupidity.
But I think you can - you can make guns illegal, smoking in public
spaces illegal, drugs illegal etc etc. We already have a legal system
that imposes penalties for all sorts of stupid and destructive
behaviour, and I believe that it is widely accepted.

Guns aren't illegal here, of course. Smoking in public spaces is banned
only because of the secondhand smoke problem, otherwise it would not be
the subject of legislation. Indeed, it is very important that Americans
keep smoking heavily because this is a major source of tax revenue. Our
rather schizophrenic anti-drug laws come from our Puritan heritage and
are, in the main, counterproductive and costly. And of course we still
have anti-homosexuality laws on the books in many places around the
country, and we'll even arrest alleged homosexuals in airport toilets
even when they haven't broken the law....

Have to crack down on the "wide stance" minority, no?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
“Mary had a little lamb / And when she saw it sicken /
She shipped it off to Packingtown / And now it’s labeled chicken.”