I'm afraid that tends to be the case too often.
That's only the case because people react rather than think. Does the fact that lying except under special circumstances is not illegal make anyone think that lying is moral? Or cheating? Or maligning? Of course not. So it shouldn't be hard to recognize that so it is with incest, particularly when the point is made to them by family or clergy or teachers or anyone respected.
Oh, while we're at it, group marriages too, I presume.
You presume correctly. I also don't think it should be illegal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet.
its morally offensive enough to outlaw. Furthermore, its inherently corrosive to healthy family relationships and it can hardly be considered truly a relationship free of compulsion.
The most morally offensive examples are already illegal, that is, those that involve minors. As for things inherently corrosive to health family relationships, there are so many of those that are much more prevalent. If we're going to intrude into family business, lets at lest get a bigger bang for the buck.
If there's only three such couples and I hope there are, then the cost isn't really an important factor.
Quite the opposite. It costs a lot to put legislation into place and to establish and operate the infrastructure. Spread that over three cases and you have a huge cost per case.
Re the dividing line question - I was getting at slavery - why is slavery, if entered into voluntarily, wrong for a libertarian
I'm not sure that there is one.
It would bother me to muddy the critical difference between person and property. Once a person has converted himself into property, he has no right to enter into contracts or have an extant contract enforced. One doesn't, for example, enter a contract with a chest of drawers. Perhaps that should not bother someone who thinks suicide should be legal but it bothers me. It's dehumanizing, which reduces all of us who allow it. At the very least it puts a big burden on the legal system to sort it out. I'd hate to see my tax money go to that. <g> |
