ACers; personal preferences

[AlexM]

I fall pretty close to the hippie range of the spectrum. I hate guns and have no desire to own one. I'm completely fine with many drugs although I don't do any myself (anymore). I like to recycle. I'm a staunch animal rights advocate, which is something I'm skeptical about AC handling well. I value eating free range meat when I can, although it's a real pain to do regularly. I would have zero problems with a gay child, male or female and am even slightly offended that you limited that question to one gender. I don't give money to charity, but I plan to whenever my own finances are solid, probably something involving children.

[Nielsio]

Drugs: drugs can be great things, if chosen, treated and used correctly. I have used psychedelic mushrooms. Drugs can be very harmful if chosen, treated and used incorrectly. But that goes for just about anything.

Abortion: I view moral agency (and the resulting negative rights theory) as a sliding scale between full moral agency (a ~14 year old healthy person) and property (at the age of abortion: a piece of meat with the mental capacity of an earthworm). So I view the immorality of mistreatment of agents with a varying degree of their moral agency. To conclude: I really couldn't care less what you do with earthworms. On the other hand I have an big respect for people's property, and parents value their offspring *highly*; probably more than anything.

Charity: I view charity as creating a dependency-relationship. I you want to help people you want to make sure that they have relationships of value. For example if they work, it's win-win. So I think it's much more helpful to be an entrepreneur and create jobs.

Homosexuality: I don't intend to beat people's natural values out of them. In fact, quite the opposite.

Environment: all the stuff you see people doing today to 'help the environment' seems utterly moot to be. The real problems are much bigger than all the stuff you can do yourself. It has to do with property, ownership, and the problem of the commons.

Guns: at this moment I'm still scared of lethal guns. I would much prefer to have a defensive weapon myself. For example: rubber bullets or, even better, the ones that shoot little packs of sand that have the impact of a professional boxer giving a hit. On the other hand I do see the value lethal guns have of the potential to scare off people who want to hurt me or take my property (because they are simply risking more).

[ALawPoker]

Thanks for the replies. As I suspected, you guys vary a bit in your personal views. I'm not an ACist (not technically anyways). I think the lack of trying to force all these various views upon others is a very admirable quality. And I think it's something people tend to forget, since in the heat of debate it always feels like everyone is trying to convince everyone else to think like them.

[Nielsio]

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Thanks for the replies. As I suspected, you guys vary a bit in your personal views. I'm not an ACist (not technically anyways). I think the lack of trying to force all these various views upon others is a very admirable quality. And I think it's something people tend to forget, since in the heat of debate it always feels like everyone is trying to convince everyone else to think like them.

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[hmkpoker]

Do/did you smoke pot? Used to smoke it a lot. Now, only very seldomly and only for special events/experiences. Pot is more destructive than most of its advocates make it out to be, it's just that the destruction is very, very subtle. You don't get sick or hungover, you just become a bit relaxed and lazy due to the lowered testosterone levels. This, combined with the high availability and safety of the substance makes it very appealing to do it frequently. Over time, though, it helps cultivate a very unmotivated mental paradigm that is far too content with things; it's good for a while, but it can lead you toward a lower quality of life, and make it harder to move up.

Still, it's a LOT safer than alcohol. Used occasionaly it's pretty harmless.

Do you own guns? I recently moved states. As soon as I get my driver's license changed, I'm applying for a handgun purchaser's permit ASAP.

If you had an accidental pregnancy, would you be OK with abortion? I'd push the bitch down a flight of stairs belly first if she didn't.

Do you give a lot to charity? Practically nothing. I'm a bit pinched financially at the moment, but honestly I'm not terribly impressed with most charities and non-profit organizations. After having viewed some budgets of local NPO's when I worked paralegal, I was pretty disgusted by how much is getting sucked up in administration fees (non-profit my ass). Personally I think business does far more for the betterment of humanity than charity ever will.

If your son was gay, how would you feel about that? I'd give him a high five. Now I don't have to worry about poorly planned grandkids.

[ALawPoker]

Hmk,

I agree with your thoughts on weed. On one hand, I can say being exposed to it definitely improved my life. And I realize that's quite a statement to make. I'm pretty sure it opened my mind, or at least expanded it, in a very good way. And I think it's made me more comfortable with my view of the world.

On a completely different note, it can also be nice after a frustrating day of poker. Sit down, smoke a bowl, have a beer and a nice meal, and forget about the day. Helps make the daily grind more doable. I've actually played high for a couple weeks before to get through a losing streak. It probably comes across as stoner rationalization, but I firmly believe (at that time) that I was definitely better off being in the right mood to play, rather than be more aware but dreading what I'm doing.

But otoh, what you say is very true. The people who say weed is great and harmless are as full of [censored] as what the government or a church might say about it. I agree that it's better than beer or cigarettes, but you really need to understand what it can do to you when you abuse it.

[Dane S]

Hmk's and your posts don't seem to adhere to my experience. Pot actually tends to increase my attention span, and therefore productivity a lot, strangely enough. I am normally overly anxious and get restless quickly. Pot, at low to moderate levels (can't stress that part enough) calms me down enough to improve my concentration quite a bit, and even more importantly seems to totally kill the procrastination impulse. Anything I do is fun and engrossing, even if it's hard work. One of my favorite things to do after toking is read something challenging or watch a very subtle film or check out art/music I normally find it hard to appreciate... stuff in that vein. I use it pretty sporadically though, and I definitely do notice the downsides you guys are referring to when I smoke too much.

[latefordinner]

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If you had an accidental pregnancy, would you be OK with abortion? I'd push the bitch down a flight of stairs belly first if she didn't.

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bzzzzzt. not at all humorous.

[ConstantineX]

Abortion is an issue that I have long been torn about. The two competing arguments are as follows:

1. Neither scientists nor politicans can assert when life truly begins. Most demarcations are arbitrary. Therefore we should err on the side of life, as perhaps not to infringe on the rights of the unborn. Even if the unborn is property of the woman.

2. Contraception is a very important thing. It pains me continually when I read stories about the urban poor in third world countries having 6 or 7 kids in desolate poverty. No matter what I believe, women in desperate situations will still seek abortions, and their health will many times be threatened by its illegal nature. Moreover, the health of mother isn't just pertinent to her - I think it in a very real way affects the health of the other siblings. It seems facetious, that for a developing clump of cells, we should ensure that 4 children starve rather than having one healthy child live.

Ideological vs. utilitarian. Right now, I lean more towards the utilitarian argument, but it very much conflicts me in discussing the issue.

[ALawPoker]

I definitely get increased pleasure in most things I do. But my thing is I'll just put things off that need to be done if they don't seem particularly exciting. I don't really enjoy reading when I'm stoned. My favorite thing to do is play things like pool, ping pong, beirut (really any sport or pseudo sport that isn't heavy on the running... I hate physical exertion when I'm stoned). Or if I'm just by myself, I don't know why, but I love watching the animal channel on TV. Shows about criminals are really cool too. And playing with my dog is also awesome.