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Libertarians, although a much-derided and mocked perpetual third party in the US political system, have been banging the drum on drug legalization for decades.

Libertarians, although a much-derided and mocked perpetual third party in the US political system, have been banging the drum on drug legalization for decades. Plus their opposition to the incarceration state, excessive police power, unconstitutional search and seizure, and their support of gay rights and overall being ideologically supportive of the individual. What do libertarians predict next? I would suggest the elimination of the modern-day guild system, also known as occupational licensing, as well as the legalization of sex work in various forms. It would not surprise me whatsoever if within 10 years legalized prostitution is a tax-paying and government-supported industry in major coastal cities. Amazon’s move is a recognition that the laws of the state in regards to drugs are woefully backwards and they - possibly the most litigated and attacked business in the world - doesn’t need to respect these laws.

agogdog 5y ago
I don't think praising Libertarians here is relevant whatsoever, they had nothing to do with this and as far as I can tell... very little to do with the public warming up to the idea of legalized marijuana. You can cherry pick positions from literally any political party if you're looking for things someone was right about.
kube-system 5y ago
The progressive-left has supported a lot of those social issues too. It just wasn’t mainstream enough to get significant Democratic support until more recently. Meanwhile Libertarians never put much consideration into their mainstream palatability.
- seibelj 5y ago
  The progressive-left does not care a lot about their electability either, although socialists have had more recent electoral success than libertarians.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
AlexandrB 5y ago
You're giving Amazon way too much credit here. They didn't need to drug test most of their employees in the first place. That policy was their choice. Also: > Amazon was hit with a proposed class action suit, which claimed that the company was violating a New York City law by testing applicants for jobs at local facilities for marijuana, according to a Westlaw report. So it seems like their hand was forced by the dissonance between federal and state law. This is not leadership or some kind of principled stand, it's liability minimization.
- redisman 5y ago
  Wow, Seattle based company supports legal weed 8 years after WA legalized it. Golf clap
- jjulius 5y ago
  That's my read as well. It seems like Amazon would rather not deal with having to keep track of where it is and isn't legal to smoke weed, so they're just saying, "Ah, fuck it," almost entirely.
DonHopkins 5y ago
If Libertarians actually supported gay rights and drug legalization more than low taxes, then they wouldn't vote Republican all the time.
- epicureanideal 5y ago
  I don’t think it’s such a clearly Democrat vs Republican issue. Plenty of Democrats have been in favor of harsher penalties for drug and other crimes. Biden and Harris among them. The Republicans are of course just as bad on this topic. I do think the Republicans, especially when they were more heavily influenced by the “religious right” had a noticeably worse position when it came to gay rights. However, that appears to be in the past. Let’s remember that in 2004 even Obama was opposed to gay marriage. Society took a while to evolve on the issue. And both parties have evolved since what they were in the 80s, 90s, and 00s.
  - DonHopkins 5y ago
    >However, that appears to be in the past. That's unmitigated bullshit and you know it, and you're living in a fantasy world. Why do you find it necessary to lie like that? Especially when it's so mendacious on its face and so easily disproven. Trump used to be pro-gay, and claimed during the campaign that he was the best friend of gays, but then he actually "de-evolved" to support and empower the anti-gay evangelical bigots who STILL run the Republican party, so your argument is incoherent nonsense that flies in the face of reality and fools nobody, in the defense of bigotry. It's really insulting you'd attempt such a poorly executed Gish Gallop, and you don't deserve any proof that you're wrong in response, because you're just making shit up to defend and exonerate terrible bigots.
    - rorykoehler 5y ago
      I agree with you but it cuts both ways. GOP and Dems do whatever they think they need to do to stay in power. Hilary Clinton changed her position on LGBT rights when the winds started to blow in a different direction too.

agogdog 5y ago

I don't think praising Libertarians here is relevant whatsoever, they had nothing to do with this and as far as I can tell... very little to do with the public warming up to the idea of legalized marijuana. You can cherry pick positions from literally any political party if you're looking for things someone was right about.

kube-system 5y ago

The progressive-left has supported a lot of those social issues too. It just wasn’t mainstream enough to get significant Democratic support until more recently. Meanwhile Libertarians never put much consideration into their mainstream palatability.

seibelj 5y ago
The progressive-left does not care a lot about their electability either, although socialists have had more recent electoral success than libertarians.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

AlexandrB 5y ago

You're giving Amazon way too much credit here. They didn't need to drug test most of their employees in the first place. That policy was their choice. Also: > Amazon was hit with a proposed class action suit, which claimed that the company was violating a New York City law by testing applicants for jobs at local facilities for marijuana, according to a Westlaw report. So it seems like their hand was forced by the dissonance between federal and state law. This is not leadership or some kind of principled stand, it's liability minimization.

redisman 5y ago
Wow, Seattle based company supports legal weed 8 years after WA legalized it. Golf clap
jjulius 5y ago
That's my read as well. It seems like Amazon would rather not deal with having to keep track of where it is and isn't legal to smoke weed, so they're just saying, "Ah, fuck it," almost entirely.

DonHopkins 5y ago

If Libertarians actually supported gay rights and drug legalization more than low taxes, then they wouldn't vote Republican all the time.

epicureanideal 5y ago
I don’t think it’s such a clearly Democrat vs Republican issue. Plenty of Democrats have been in favor of harsher penalties for drug and other crimes. Biden and Harris among them. The Republicans are of course just as bad on this topic. I do think the Republicans, especially when they were more heavily influenced by the “religious right” had a noticeably worse position when it came to gay rights. However, that appears to be in the past. Let’s remember that in 2004 even Obama was opposed to gay marriage. Society took a while to evolve on the issue. And both parties have evolved since what they were in the 80s, 90s, and 00s.
- DonHopkins 5y ago
  >However, that appears to be in the past. That's unmitigated bullshit and you know it, and you're living in a fantasy world. Why do you find it necessary to lie like that? Especially when it's so mendacious on its face and so easily disproven. Trump used to be pro-gay, and claimed during the campaign that he was the best friend of gays, but then he actually "de-evolved" to support and empower the anti-gay evangelical bigots who STILL run the Republican party, so your argument is incoherent nonsense that flies in the face of reality and fools nobody, in the defense of bigotry. It's really insulting you'd attempt such a poorly executed Gish Gallop, and you don't deserve any proof that you're wrong in response, because you're just making shit up to defend and exonerate terrible bigots.
  - rorykoehler 5y ago
    I agree with you but it cuts both ways. GOP and Dems do whatever they think they need to do to stay in power. Hilary Clinton changed her position on LGBT rights when the winds started to blow in a different direction too.