Comments on: What Do You Think of the NYC Plan to Ban Large Sugary Drinks? http://billofrightsinstitute.org/blog/2012/06/05/nyc-ban-on-large-sugary-drink/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:15:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Stephanie http://billofrightsinstitute.org/blog/2012/06/05/nyc-ban-on-large-sugary-drink/#comment-4646 Stephanie Tue, 31 Jul 2012 21:27:32 +0000 http://billofrightsinstitute.org/?p=8438#comment-4646 Outlawing gay marriage and sodas over 16 ounces in New York City can both be described in the same way. They are both severe limitations to our liberty. Whether I believe gay marriage will harm our society is not relevant when I am deciding at the ballot. Whether I believe sodas harm a person’s health is not relevant at the ballot either. What is relevant is whether we should vote in favor of the government’s ability to curb our choices, thereby deciding how we live our lives. Insofar as I am not directly harming another person or his property, any limit to my choices is government-imposed morality. This is obvious in the case of gay marriage. Republicans are morally opposed to any marriage beyond a man and woman and want to enforce that moral view on society. But this is also the case regarding soda. In the same way as gay marriage, Democrats have decided to limit your choices of how you live your life. In this case they have decided what you should value more in the trade-off between quality of life and longevity (supposedly this trade-off exists). And what is morality other than a series of value-based choices that guide how we live our lives? Outlawing gay marriage and sodas over 16 ounces in New York City can both be described in the same way. They are both severe limitations to our liberty.

Whether I believe gay marriage will harm our society is not relevant when I am deciding at the ballot. Whether I believe sodas harm a person’s health is not relevant at the ballot either.

What is relevant is whether we should vote in favor of the government’s ability to curb our choices, thereby deciding how we live our lives. Insofar as I am not directly harming another person or his property, any limit to my choices is government-imposed morality.

This is obvious in the case of gay marriage. Republicans are morally opposed to any marriage beyond a man and woman and want to enforce that moral view on society. But this is also the case regarding soda. In the same way as gay marriage, Democrats have decided to limit your choices of how you live your life. In this case they have decided what you should value more in the trade-off between quality of life and longevity (supposedly this trade-off exists).

And what is morality other than a series of value-based choices that guide how we live our lives?

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