The Culture of Life


Michael Blanding has a "top ten" of what he calls the culture of life. There are some good things here such as stopping the Iraq war, ending prisoner "abuse" (torture), encouraging the use of contraception in countries devastated by AIDs; but also some nonsense such as state-funded health care and sate-funded research into "alternative" energy sources. So I thought I might list my own top ten measures which I think would most promote "the culture of life": [more]

Michael Blanding has a "top ten" of what he calls the culture of life. There are some good things here such as stopping the Iraq war, ending prisoner "abuse" (torture), encouraging the use of contraception in countries devastated by AIDs; but also some nonsense such as state-funded health care and sate-funded research into "alternative" energy sources. So I thought I might list my own top ten measures which I think would most promote "the culture of life": [more]

1. The drastic reduction in the number of nuclear weapons and a comprehensive declaration of a policy of no first use - have people forgotten about an unintended consequence of these most destructive of weapons of mass destruction - the nuclear winter hypothesis of Carl Sagan et al.?

2. withdrawing all troops engaged in war fighting back to their country of origin - it might be good to have a policy that heavily armed troops and heavy weaponry should only be used to defend the territorial borders of the nation state and not be sent outside a nation state's territorial waters. Lightly armed "peace keepers" might be an exception to this general rule.

3. stop the death penalty - the state has killed and continues to kill too many of its own citizens with very shoddy legal practices, and blatantly unfair and even racist officers of the court and police.

4. investigate all instances of prisoner abuse and torture - all foreign-based detention centres and prisons should be immediately closed down, the prisoners released, and the perpetrators of abuse arrested and tried. All countries should be encouraged to sign international agreements outlawing torture and other forms of abuse.

5. join the International Criminal Court - send a message to tyrants and would-be mass murderers that their actions will have consequences

6. support contraception as a means of controlling the spread of AIDs

7. give all women full control of their own bodies - what does life mean if one does not "own" or control one's own body?

8. give all men full control of their own bodies - what does life mean if one does not "own" or control one's own body? The logical extension of this principle is that one should also be free to ingest, inhale, or inject anything one chooses into one's own body.

9. encourage others, especially one's children, to ostracize or otherwise ignore mindlessly violent TV shows, movies, and video games. The simulation of killing for "enjoyment" is not something to be encouraged.

10. when we intone the mantra that every person has the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness, let's really mean it. Everybody.

Posted: Thu - April 7, 2005 at 12:35 PM        

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