Why is it that I'm always wanting to know how old people on this site are, particularly libertarians? I remember libertarianism being wildly attractive when I was eighteen-- now that I'm 42 and a mother of teenagers, it just isn't nearly so interesting. I was perfectly content to watch my friends collect Darwin awards, but somehow I'm less sanguine about the prospect of my children doing so. Ah, too soon old, too late smart.
Well, for the record, I'm 26 and categorized myself as libertarian about 2 years ago or so. I often think of what you're talking about as my friends marry off - if I have kids someday, what would I say to them about drugs, for example?
The consistent libertarian in me says that I would talk to them about "free choice", from the standpoint that I can't prevent them from doing something they're hell-bent on doing. I suppose I'll teach them the best I can with a strong emphasis on "family", so that they're less inclined to use drugs.
However, something tells me that if I actually had my own flesh and blood running around in this world, part of me might be given a degree more of peace by thinking in the dominant paradigm - that drugs are just a little less available because of our laws so my kid is a degree more safe.
I imagine you're laughing at me now, saying to yourself that I couldn't possibly know anything about having a kid until I actually have one. Perhaps......
Until that day comes, I can only speculate. To me, however, with what I know now, it makes sense that drugs are first a cultural problem that cannot be solved through legislation and that if I'm depending on the law to prevent my kid from using them, I shouldn't be a parent in the first place.
"Ah, too soon old, too late smart."
I agree, -- unlike most of us, you show no evidence of having gained wisdom with age. - And you know you're in serious trouble, when a clown like roscoe backs up your play.