Philosophers Think Too Much

I recently read a really good book called "The God That is There." It didn't really change any of my views on religion, but I learned quite a lot from it. One of the big things I learned was that philosophers think too much. They've been looking for the meaning of life since the beginning of humanity. Of course, they started out thinking that the meaning of life came from on high. Whether that be one God or many. That wasn't good enough for them so they rejected religion and started looking for some sort of hidden meaning that the universe inherently has. Artists picked up on this in the last century or so. That is why so much of modern art is abstract and random in appearance. They are hoping some sort of meaning will appear out of the chaos. Some have even committed suicide because they couldn't find the meaning they were looking for. They couldn't deal with the possibility that there was no meaning to life at all.

I think that one of the reasons that people have such a hard time with the meaning of life is that they don't realize that each person gets to pick the meaning for their own life. In fact, they are not even restricted to just one meaning. Some might say that religion is the meaning to their lives, for example. If pressed though most of the same people would say that family is a big part of their life. The meaning of your life is inherent in how you choose to spend it.

Religious people would say that their version of God is really the one and only source of purpose in the Universe. However, this neglects the fact that people are free to choose whether they will follow God or not. There is no need to talk of sin and redemption if you have no choice but to obey God. If you believe in God, you have to believe that free will exists. Free will implies choice. People who reject religion may be in error or they may not, but the choice is still theirs.

Let's End the Drug War

I think it is time to end this stupid drug war. Here's why:

1. It hasn't kept anyone who wants drugs from getting them any time they want. In all my life I've never seen or heard of anyone who wanted an illegal drug who couldn't get it easily. We are spending billions every year and the only thing that results is that the drugs are more expensive and more profitable for the criminals. Legalizing them would immediately bring the cost down and perhaps remove the incentive for people to cheat, steal and murder to get money for drugs. I don't think that drug use would make more than a temporary spike after legalization. Pretty much everyone that wants them is already using them.
2. Thousands of innocent people die every year because of drug related crimes. These people aren't involved in the drug trade at all and should not have to die just so we can continue to look righteous. If we only saved these lives, legalization would be more than worth it. Sure, drug users would continue to die. Let's face it though. They knew that drugs were dangerous when they decided to start using them.
3. No one should have the right to tell another person what they can and can't do with their own bodies as long as they aren't causing harm to others. The most important right that anyone has is the right to ownership of themselves. That ownership is infringed any time any one makes someone do something with their body that is against their will.
4. We would no longer feel compelled to interfere with the sovereignty of other nations. We are constantly meddling with the internal politics of other countries in our fruitless attempts to stop the flow of drugs. We have no right to interfere in the internal politics of any country. This also costs many extra billions each year in foreign aid.