It's not so much a straw-man as occam's razor.

You have clearly overstated the popularity of pot legalization. The simplest explanation for this is that you've made the classic mistake of believing that you and your peer group's beliefs are representative or similar to that of society as a whole.

8/6/2010 12:41:50 PM

that may be true but I do believe that an overwhelming percentage of the population would be for legalizing marijuana, but a lot of people don't speak out for fear of ruining their reputation due to the negative image that goes along with smoking pot. see BridgetSPK post on page 1.

8/6/2010 12:58:33 PM

that may be true but I do believe that an overwhelming percentage of the population would be for legalizing slavery, but a lot of people don't speak out for fear of ruining their reputation due to the negative image that goes along with owning blacks.

That's just bad logic.

8/6/2010 12:59:48 PM

so now you are comparing slavery to smoking week?

its not even logic..its my opinion

[Edited on August 6, 2010 at 1:02 PM. Reason : .]

8/6/2010 1:01:50 PM

It just seems that if an overwhelming majority were for it then it wouldn't have the stigma that you're associating with it, instead people just wouldn't care if you smoked pot or not.

8/6/2010 1:05:57 PM

^^^^ sure, that makes sense. Everyone wants it, but nobody will admit to it.

The only way this even makes sense a little bit would render the idea that "everyone wants it" meaningless. I.E. People may want it on one hand but dislike it on the other...

You can draw an analogy from sex. Most men "want" adultery in the simplest sense of "i want sex with this hot chick", but they don't want the drama, broken marriage, loneliness, stds, etc. that also accompany it. So, most of them, even though a part of them wants it, decline adultery.



If your point truly is that everyone wants legal pot without any inner qualification or caveat, but yet it remains illegal and they refuse to admit to wanting it, even though everyone else also wants it the same amount, then that is the most flagrant violation of Occam's Razor I have ever witnessed. In fact, it looks like a wild leap into the void of conjecture with the only aim being to validate your own opinion on the issue.


[Edited on August 6, 2010 at 1:07 PM. Reason : Mr Joshua beat me to it]

8/6/2010 1:06:04 PM

The government has no business telling us what we can and cannot do with our own bodies to the extent that it does not harm another person.

Prohibition of drugs and prostitution are just more of the same moral busy bodies who can't mind their own damned business.

Anyone who thinks pot should be illegal should also be trying to outlaw alcohol. From a purely utilitarian standpoint they appear fairly equivalent on the physiological impact they have on a person. I can't see how someone could be cool with alcohol and not other drugs.

8/6/2010 1:09:02 PM

Quote :

"The government has no business telling us what we can and cannot do with our own bodies to the extent that it does not harm another person. Prohibition of drugs and prostitution are just more of the same moral busy bodies who can't mind their own damned business."

this

Quote :

"You have clearly overstated the popularity of pot legalization."

Straw-man #2
I only stated that one particular position ("marijuana isn't dangerous and should be legal") is more popular than one other particular position ("marijuana is dangerous and should stay illegal"). I stated nothing about the popularity of pot legalization in general.

Quote :

"The simplest explanation for this is that you've made the classic mistake of believing that you and your peer group's beliefs are representative or similar to that of society as a whole. "

Basing an argument on Occam's razor doesn't make it not a straw-man. You're still assigning the argument to me without my having made it. Plus, you're responding to yet another straw-man. (that I "clearly overstated the popularity of pot legalization")


indy: 3
Solinari: 0

Quote :

"so now you are comparing slavery to smoking wee[d]?"

No, he used an analogy. At no point was slavery compared to smoking weed. Please learn how analogies work.

[Edited on August 6, 2010 at 1:12 PM. Reason : ]

8/6/2010 1:11:22 PM

You did overstate the popularity.

Quote :

"I only stated that one particular position... is more popular than one other particular position..."

This is demonstrably false. You did not "only" state that something was simply more popular than something else.

In fact, you went out of your way to stress how much more popular that one was over the other:

Quote :

"The far, FAR, FAR more popular position is that..."

Are you now backing off of this hyperbolic emphasis?

8/6/2010 1:17:57 PM

Quote :

"It just seems that if an overwhelming majority were for it then it wouldn't have the stigma that you're associating with it, instead people just wouldn't care if you smoked pot or not."

^^^ i'll take myself for example. i'm a professional, a moderate and i am for legalizing marijuana. however, i would never go to a legalize it parade or join a legalize it advocacy group. i would vote for it on a ballot or even support it on a message board where there is some anonymity, but i would never support it openly for fear of being labeled a pot head. i believe there are many in the US that feel the same way.


[Edited on August 6, 2010 at 1:19 PM. Reason : .]

8/6/2010 1:19:11 PM

Quote :

"You did not "only" state that something was simply more popular than something else. In fact, you went out of your way to stress how much more popular that one was over the other: "

QED

indy: 4
Solinari: 0



Dude, it's not that hard.

Person a: "women are inferior and shouldn't be allowed to vote, hold jobs, or own property"

Person b: "That he actually believes that 'women are inferior and shouldn't be allowed to vote, hold jobs, or own property' is extremely unlikely.
The far, FAR, FAR more popular position is that women aren't inferior, and should have equal rights."

Solinari: "You're overstating the popularity of women's equality."

Everyone:


[Edited on August 6, 2010 at 1:37 PM. Reason : ]

8/6/2010 1:22:18 PM

8/6/2010 1:37:57 PM

Quote :

"I'd bet almost 100% of the underage people who acquire it now would have no problem acquiring it once it is "regulated." I don't think regulating it would do squat in that regard."

It's already easier for teenagers to get pot than to get alcohol. A dealer isn't going to care if the person he's selling to is a minor or not...he's selling contraband. With alcohol, someone has to take the chance of getting stuck with a misdemeanor.

8/6/2010 1:47:24 PM

Quote :

"Ok well I've been there too and the tour guide in my group said the cops might take your shit if you smoke it on the street."

Ok well next time don't go on a fucking high school field trip

8/6/2010 6:55:50 PM

I think the key difference here is that women actually got the right to vote, proving the popularity of suffrage.

whereas all the potheads have gotten is a little fly-by-night medical marijuana laws passed, and in fact, even medical marijuana is still illegal across the entire jurisdiction of the United States.


So... again, if it were so goddamned popular, why isn't it legal? Oh, that's right, because everyone wants it to be legal, they just can't admit it in the privacy of the voting booth

8/8/2010 5:03:51 PM

Wow.
You continue to push your straw-man, despite it being clearly pointed out,
and you comment on women's suffrage as though it was a comparison and not an analogy.

indy: 5
Solinari: 0


(If you simply want to make your point about popularity, then do so.
...but don't do it in response to an argument I never made. Okay? Thanks.)

8/8/2010 5:57:44 PM