Which works best? A Liberal or a Punitive system of Law.

Deleted User wrote: »

Up until a few months ago I really paid little attention to the civil laws or the constitution of this country. I didn't pay much attention to the inequality, discrimination or injustice that might result from either the Irish Law system or the Constitution that is the fundamental driver of Irish society and its laws. Although, I've been acutely aware of all the cock ups and ridiculousness of Irish society since I was a young child.

So the marriage equality referendum came along last year. Again it didn't really affect me as I'm a straight male living in a country fairly well suited to a man of my persuasion. In the end though I was slightly moved by the fact that the gay community have to fight so hard to achieve an equal status in society. And even though the vote went in their favour I was shocked to see the tide of hostility and opposition to a Yes vote by a sizeable minority of the population. I was also a bit shocked that the Irish public rejected the right of people less than 35 to run for the office of president which to my mind is just age discrimination. Anyway, it all woke me up to other problems in Irish society where the law seems a bit rubbish and it got me thinking about where I stand on some issues like abortion, drug usage, prostitution and removing the stranglehold that the Catholic church has on Irish primary schools.

Personally, I'm very liberal. As in, more or less anything goes as far as I'm concerned as long as it doesn't physically affect other humans/animals negatively. So as far as I'm concerned you can do as much drugs, booze and prostitutes as you want as long as you're not affecting someone else negatively and you can then end your own life in a clinic if you want to go that way and you can say whatever you want prior to your own death, even inciting violence, as long as you don't end up obviously causing violence. So basically anything goes as long as no one else is proven to be getting harmed as a result of your actions.

Alas the law is not so liberal. It prevents you doing most of the above things and actually harms you when you do any of these things even if you only harmed yourself in the process.

So I'm wondering, do all these laws actually work? As in laws around drug, prostitution, abortion, lack of a right to die at a time of your choosing. Do they work? The evidence I see or at least the reality that I see indicates to me that these laws just don't work. Fair enough, I might not be doing anything illegal myself and maybe the majority don't do anything illegal but I do see it everywhere. Dublin is full of junkies. I was only talking to a friend last night who is a high ranking, working professional in a major industry and he was telling me he did drugs recently. The amount of Irish men that have been involved with a prostitute is probably not a well known accurate figure but I hear it all the time how Irish men are going abroad and end up with a prostitute, particularly those younger than my generation, and there is a considerable sex industry in Ireland. I would have my doubts about what most Irish men are getting up to when they travel to Amsterdam or Germany or on their way out to Australia. And Irish women are heading abroad in their thousands for abortions. Something like 160,000 Irish women have had abortions in Britain alone per published figures. And there is some Irish people who travel to Europe to die at a time of their own choosing and I'm sure there is plenty of people who want to have that right should they get sick in the future.

If we liberalized the law system and legalized all areas such as abortion, drugs, prostitution and the right to die while at the same time properly regulating these areas and educating our children/adults so they can make informed decisions then would we end up with a better, fairer and more inclusive society? I just don't see these punitive laws working at the moment and even if they did work then I'm not convinced that they are good for society. I mean like, putting a woman in jail for having an abortion after being raped or putting a drug user in jail even though they ended up on drugs due to homelessness and neglect by the state seems wrong to me. And putting a woman or man in prison for paying for consensual sex seems wrong to me. And telling someone with a painful terminal illness that is making them miserable that they cannot die at a time of their own choosing seems wrong to me. And with most of these areas, all the current laws seem to put lives at risk. Prostitutes have to take extra risks. Drug takers have to take extra risks and at the same time these laws create a perfect environment/industry for criminals who exploit the opportunity and create even more risk as their activities are unregulated mainly.