As a society should we be trying to save people from themselves?

The Christian in me says yes but the tax payer in me says no.

As a society? Sure



Unless "society" means government. Then no

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Drug use, risky behavior, poor choices that could result in injury or death.

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Depends if you believe in Darwin or not.

Choices usually allow species to separate the wheat from the chaff.

As you can see here in the US. We are actually setting ourselves back further and further by throwing precious resources at people we should generally "leave behind."

frick em.

what do you mean by "society" and "we"?

And no, I don't think I have an obligation, either religious, spiritual, or governmental, to save someone who chooses to destroy themselves.

Nope.

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As a society should we be trying to save people from themselves? Drug abuse, risky behavior, poor choices that could result in injury or death.

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frick no, what else am I going to watch on LiveLeak when I'm bored.

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Drug abuse, risky behavior, poor choices that could result in injury or death.

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This is a much deeper philosophical question than I think TD affords a substantive answer. But, I think the answer to the question is instinctively YES. The debate arises as to to what degree of resources we should dedicate to this cause and at what risk to others.

People are social animals. What happens to a sub-set of the population does not occur in a vacuum....in some way, it impacts all. So, I think it is important to try to identify the reasons people engage in this type of conduct and prevent the choices before they occur. In a perfect world that sounds great....but it will never be a 100% answer to the problem.

As a whole, we do a decent job at this. Look at AIDS education as a simple example....as a society, I think we did a decent job of cutting the legs out from under this epidemic. Yes, it still exists....but it cannot be said that societal attack on the problem did not help curb the problem.

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risky behavior

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like what?

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poor choices

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like what?

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Drug abuse

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I think "society" should offer avenues to help people get clean if they so desire. I don't think it's the government or "society"'s job to tell people what they shoudl or shouldn't ingest though. People shoudl be able to enjoy all the drugs they want as long as it's not a detriment to others.

Simple answer. Yes.

No man is an island. The effects of poor choices will no doubt impact those who make good choices, despite our best intentions.

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Let natural selection do it's job

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Aside from being heartless and juvenile, this argument is stupid. With disease and humans’ complex warlike tendencies, it’s just as likely that natural selection will punish you (or your offspring if you’re old enough to have already “defeated Darwin”) as those that you apparently loathe.