Stances & Statements
FREEDOM / RIGHTS - Part 4
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Pornography
I believe that pornography can be a positive experience if done properly, which includes the process of making it and distributing it. Naturally, there is a dark side to pornography, from exploitation of primarily women, illegal pornography, and addiction to pornography. Like any other freedom, it can be abused, and as a result needs to be done ethically with a level of responsibility and discipline.
Fantasy
The saying goes “you are what you eat,” and it can also be said that “you are what you think.” Your thoughts, specifically fantasies that you control and desire, are indeed a reflection of who you are to a degree. Fantasy is related to imagination, creativity, sexuality, desire, ego, among other aspects. I think it should be a personal choice for any individual to make when deciding to have planned fantasies that are outside of their moral/ethical principles of what they would do in real life. If someone decides to embrace any fantasy, they should try to understand why they are interested and make sure that if the fantasy if acted upon in real life is in fact negative, that it simply stays a fantasy so as to not harm anyone including the individual having the fantasy. If we learn one day that having dark thoughts can influence our reality in a way that we don’t currently understand, that would be a legitimate reason to potentially suppress such dark fantasies.
Recreational Drugs
We believe that some recreational drug use is more than acceptable. The main idea is that someone using recreational drugs is being responsible and safe. It is important that the individual has done the necessary research on the drug they plan on taking and have a great understanding of the risks involved prior to use. An important aspect that needs to be taken into consideration is how and who is making the drug. It’s possible the source of the drug might support organized crime, and in some cases even that of a terrorist organization. Another concern is the chemical makeup of the drug itself, which could contain potentially harmful and deadly chemicals such as fentanyl.
Gambling
Gambling is something that I believe should be discouraged entirely. There are many issues with gambling, one of which is that some people do get addicted and simply cannot handle that freedom. In some cases, an individual might lose everything they have, go into bankruptcy or great debt, becoming increasingly desperate and likely to do something they wouldn’t normally do without such stress and pressure, like that of crime. Gambling can also lead to domestic abuse and even suicide. The other issue is who is benefiting from gambling; in some cases it might be organized crime. There is nothing wrong with playing games for fun but placing bets on games is simply not necessary. There are multiple countries that outright ban gambling. It would appear that the only argument for gambling is that people want that freedom and that it can help the economy in ways despite the individual financial losses of so many people. Further studies should be done on the subject.