Reply #77: It's always a balance

[Pithlet]

Your freedoms and privacy balanced against how much your actions affect other people. I feel that if it can be argued that the negative effects are bad enough, then their projections outweigh your rights, of course. I don't think anyone would argue that restriction your right to drink and drive is too much of a personal infringement, for instance. I think the argument is how much of an affect does smoking in the car or in the home have on children. And, I do think it is arguable that there is a significant difference, and that the harmful effects in the car outweigh the rights of the smoker. But, I do understand that not everyone agrees on that point. And if one doesn't feel that there is much of an affect, or the affect is negligible, then it would certainly be a personal infringement that the government has no right to take.

Sorry, for the delay as my husband and I are right now having this very same argument and were both trying to convince each other they're wrong :P