I think there are differing degrees of addiction and/or moral blindness but I agree that people who are immoral in their private lives are more likely to be immoral in their public lives, too. Character does matter.
There’s another aspect to this discussion that always surprises me. It seems too many people hold political opinions on moral matters that they don’t even challenge from time to time. I usually try to at least consider differing viewpoints.
Libertarians strike me as especially rigid in their thinking. A libertarian would likely say government has no business regulating porn, pot, or much of anything else at all. That’s incredibly naive in my opinion, because some things have in impact on society that extends beyond the individual.
If we lived in a society where porn was very pervasive (some might argue we are already there), it would likely have all sorts of negative impacts, like divorce, the spread of disease, etc. I just don’t see how someone can turn a blind eye to that. So to me, it’s about how much government is necessary, because governments are created for very real and good reasons. Too many libertarians come across as complete social anarchists to me.
Social anarchists/utopians is exactly what they are. Basically hardcore leftists who want guns and no taxes.
Of course all kinds of people pop up and say “but but I’m a small “l” libertarian, I don’t agree with everything the Libertarian Party says” and get all huffy. But when asked specifically “well, which exact platforms of the LP do you not agree with - legal dope, legal prostitution, totally open borders to all and sundry, all homo rights from A to Z, abortion without any restriction, every kind of porn w/out restriction, other?”
They do not reply.
Actually some prominent Libertarians have said child pornography should be legal. They really try to keep some of that stuff hidden.
So.......