(no subject)

[desperance]

grrm has a post about freedom (with specific reference to the US, but general principles apply all over) and you can read it here. I think you should.

Thing is, though, in the middle there he has a paragraph that reads:

"I want the right to do stupid, hazardous, self-destructive stuff as well; to drink absinthe, smoke pot, smoke tobacco, drive my car without the seatbelt, bungee jump off bridges, watch porn, order my eggs sunny-side up and my hamburgers rare, have unprotected sex, drink unpasteurized milk. I have only done a few of those things, actually (I will leave it to you to figure out which ones), and most I would never consider -- but I SHOULD have the right to do all of them."

And while I entirely applaud the sentiment, I have troubles with the list, because it all seems so innocuous. Most of those he would never consider? George, there's only one item on that list I haven't done, and I'm far from the most adventurous or outlandish of men. I'm not bragging about my raffishness here, far from it - just wondering if there's a different mindset across the sea there, if Americans are perhaps inherently more cautious, even without the impositions of their government?

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I don't want to do cocaine, but I'd really like to be able to swim naked anytime without feeling retribution from the law for "indecent exposure". However, because of the law you've got to do it at night. :( If you're lucky...

I wonder if anyone's tried to assert a legal right to go skinny-dipping on moonless nights, on the grounds that you're not exposed if nobody can see you? If the police came along with their torches, that would by definition be entrapment, no offence committed before they came to arrest you for it...