You're right - the threat-of-death argument is not a primarily practical one, though I think it's far more practical than you give it credit. Al Capone didn't g

You're right - the threat-of-death argument is not a primarily practical one, though I think it's far more practical than you give it credit. Al Capone didn't go to prison for tax evasion out of respect for the courts. But that's not the main point. It's a philosophical argument. You seem to think (please, correct me if I'm wrong) we can divorce our philosophy from our system of government and talk only about "real practical issues", and I would politely reply that it's impossible. Whatever your idea of the meaning and purpose of government is will have fundamental implications as to what you advocate it does practically. It's not irrational to speak of the fundamentals, it's irrational to ignore them. Our philosophy is how we understand reality, and I argue that a philosophy of government that does not take into account the basic fact that they are the one organization that we view morally able to take a life is a deeply flawed and heavily unrealistic one. As for the soda thing - sure, it's a matter of scale. Just like ph is a matter of scale. ph 6.5 is pleasantly acidic, while ph 1 will burn the flesh off your body. There are definite points where you can say "this is toxic" or "this is just unhealthy". That's where you start getting into judgment calls, made by humans. The law would of course be more nuanced than this, but ultimately it comes down to that. But it's important to note that none of it is forbidden, and if a person looks at the ingredient list (again, fraud is still illegal) and decides they want to drink it anyway, it's nobody else's business to force them not to. (A concerned talk by a close friend or relative would, of course, still be in order). This idea of it all coming back to human judgment is, incidentally, why I believe a utopia is impossible in the current state of affairs. I have an essentially pessimistic view of human nature as it is at present (I have religious views which are positive on human nature in the long run, as it is eventually redeemed. I don't want to argue those right now, as it won't get us anywhere). But I do believe that we shouldn't give up on finding a better system just because we can't find a perfect one. Saying drain cleaner is edible is downright murderous. I don't believe the same of soda, regardless of what your unsourced "standard nutritionists" think. It definitely isn't true of water. We have to draw some lines somewhere. Will this be abused? Of course. But it has far less impact, and thus far less opportunity for corruption, than our current system.