Y’all Don’t Need Liberty
I was listening to NPR this morning, as I normally do on the way in to work, from work, at lunch (hmm…I just might be a well-informed nerd) and heard a story on synthetic marijuana. A manufacturer of the ingredients that are used as medical marijuana was saying that just because his product is sold as potpourri and people smoke it, it’s not up to him to make it hard for vendors to sell or tell others that they should not smoke it.
“Isn’t part of being an American having the freedom to choose how to live your life and what to do with your body?”
Why don’t we ask women who will now be subject to transvaginal ultrasounds before getting abortions what they think of being an American and making choices with their bodies as they’re forced into being raped with a medical device? But I digress…
Has loving freedom and liberty as an American gone too far? Are we honestly letting companies get away with extremely damaging products just to pursue life, liberty, happiness, and money? I think money is the main driver here. I don’t understand how someone can equate selling a product that is mainly used to get high with having a “right” for their consumers to abuse the product. I could argue some of this for alcohol companies and Phillip Morris, but those companies do not generally have people buying their products and dying a day later from smoking an ounce of it.
Yes, being American comes with freedoms and liberties that other countries don’t have, but I don’t like the idea of using that to poison myself or the environment just to satisfy my own personal happiness at the expense of everyone else. Where is the responsibility? Money isn’t all that important at the end of your life.
