Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society

I love Peter McWilliam, many many books have come and gone in my life but, not his...they are witty, deep, sometimes not deep, comforting...like a good friend and in my case, often one of the only real ones.... This book though .... The issue I have with it is that invariably many of our actions do affect others. For instance, I purchased a townhouse (regrettably) a few years ago here are a few examples. I live next door to 'potheads' who don't work. I don't smoke however am continually exposed to the smell and result not only of pot but their cigarette smoke among other things. If you are gay, do your thing however your painting crosswalks that we all pay for, you are not extra special, your right don't supercede the rights of others. You may want to be polygamous or whatever however if you have young children it is not all about you and your needs.... So yes...the list is infinite and really is the only book I have the yes, and, no feeling about.

I cannot wait to read the other reviews as I have always felt like the only person in the world to have ever even heard of this book I also cannot wait to reread it, 100 yrs later! I do remember him saying, in the book, that he felt sure the see I Aye was going to come after him, since he had the gall to call for freedom in America. These reviews are 20 years old. I bet when I read it, soon, it will make our world's clown status cement.

I bought a used copy of this book after it had been donated to the bookstore I formerly worked in by, of all places, a church library. I became a libertarian last year and had heard that it was excellent reading for people of that persuasion. So I happily took it home and plunged in. I'm glad I did. My sense of humor is similar to what McWilliams's was so I felt an instant connection to the text. Others may find him too caustic at times, but I liked his humorous interjections. My copy is an older hardback version so the newer paperback may have some differences but the basic premise is surely the same: people, not the government, have the right to decide what to do with their own bodies and property. It's as simple as that yet in America, we've been taught to perceive it as a tangled, complicated mess. Several years back, I was watching Sting (I'm a big fan) on _Larry King Live_ and he started discussing how strange it was / still is that society finds it acceptable to smoke, drink and ingest caffeine, but unacceptable, even morally reprehensible to use other "drugs". I was a staunch Republican in those days so I swept his comment under the rug but it always stuck with me. In reading this book, I am glad I allowed myself to explore the topic of consensual crimes.So what are consensual crimes anyway? Some people think of them as "victimless crimes" but they are, more or less, acts that do not harm the body and/or property of any non-consenting person yet are illegal anyway. McWilliams states that the basis for this book is simple: "You should be allowed to do whatever you want with your own person and property, as long as you don't physically harm the person or property of another." To explore this idea, McWilliams looks at a number of things-- what are consensual crimes, what is the difference between personal morality and social morality, why making laws against consensual crimes is not a good idea, how consensual crimes got to be crimes in the first place, the role of religion (especially the B-i-b-l-e) in consensual crimes and what can be done.The kinds of consensual crimes discussed in the book include gambling, drug use, prostitution, porno, issues of marriage (polygamy, adultery, and so on), homosexuality (McWilliams attacks several common myths about the homosexual lifestyle with jocularity *and* dignity), unconventional religious practices, suicide/assisted suicide, loitering, unpopular political sentiments, seat belt laws, helmet laws, public nudity, etc. McWilliams does an excellent job of clarifying the difference between one’s personal morality and society’s morality. Personal morality as he defines it is what we believe will make us better human beings whereas social morality consists of not harming someone else physically or harming his/her property. There’s quite a distinction there! Some groups in our country believe that social morality ought to consist of government enforcing laws around their religious beliefs. Maybe they have

Peter McWilliams died in the summer of 2000 because he was denied medical marijuana to suppress nausea caused by his medication for HIV/AIDS. His home state of California legalized medical marijuana, and the Federal Government found it necessary to raid his home there (and that of his medically-challenged friend Todd McCormick, now doing five years in a Federal penitentiary), and arrest and convict him. Subject to random urine tests, Peter died choking on his own vomit. It is not a stretch for me to claim that he was murdered by this heartless government. Peter was brilliant and multi-talented, and a reading of this astonishing book will confirm that. I defy anyone to read this book and not become fundamentally enraged at the audacity with which the government has continued to encroach on the precious liberties which the Founding Fathers penned in the hopes of their eventual historical fruition. In one of his activist emailings (Peter worked until the week he died), he noted that "...four DEA agents told me they found ['Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do...'] on the shelf of every drug bust they had gone on, making me ideological enemy #1 in their eyes..." Be one of the over one million NON-drug dealers with this excellent work on your shelf.

This is one of the most informative and engaging books I have read in a long, long time. Every page has a quote, some of which are exceptionally enlightening besides being very entertaining. For instance George Washington in 1796: "The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." Hello Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson!Personally I take a bit more pause over some issues, examples like the harmlessness of random jay-walking and not wearing motorcycle helmets. I think that many of these laws save lives, much of the public being too stupid to look out for themselves. But that's the whole point of this book and what makes it such a kick in the pants! Push come to shove, I'd probably take McWilliams' side any day. Be prepared to get mighty angry when the hypocrisy of many of our laws is pointed out.Oh, by the way - at nearly 700 pages, the book's dirt cheap.

The author, arguing that the War on Drugs and other consensual crimes causes more harm than good, died back in June. Ironically, it was the War on Drugs that killed him.Mr. McWilliams suffered from AIDS and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The medication that kept him alive caused intense nausea (thereby vomiting up the medication.) He smoked medical marijuana to reduce the nausea and stay alive. This is legal in California (Proposition 215 passed in '96), but in 1997 McWilliams was arrested for drug charges.He was ordered by a federal judge not to mention his illness or the medicinal value of marijuana in the trial. To avoid a mandatory 10-year prison sentence, he pled guilty, and was prohibited from using medicinal marijuana. On July 14, Peter McWilliams was found dead in his home, having choked on his vomit. He was arrested for what is 100% legal in California. He was not allowed to introduce evidence on his behalf in the trial. And he was released on the promise he would not take the medicine that kept him alive. This book is about the violation of our freedoms based on the argument that other people know what is best for you. Mr. McWilliams was a fine author who used marijuana to stay alive. Now he is dead, and the world is a poorer place. In a speech to the Libertarian Party Convention in 1998, Mr. McWilliams said this: "Marijuana is the finest anti-nausea medication known to science, and our leaders have lied about this consistently. [Arresting people for] medical marijuana is the most hideous example of government interference in the private lives of individuals. It's an outrage within an outrage within an outrage." Let us ask ourselves some hard questions: Do I have the right to prohibit someone else from doing something (that doesn't harm another's person or property) just because I don't like it? Am I justified in imprisoning someone who may or may not be harming themselves? If my religion forbids something, should I make it illegal?This book raises serious issues that cannot be dismissed off-hand. Outlawing marijuana and subsidizing cigarettes is an outrageous example of hypocrisy in our country, and we should be ashamed of letting government shackle us with these chains.

This book is perhaps the greatest written, period! Never has one book so thoroughly and successfully highlighted the real problems in this country, as well as offering a highly workable solution. Our Founding Fathers are no doubt rolling in their graves at what their vision of a free America has become, due to the evil machinations of religious nuts and their "legislated morality." McWilliams has also written one of the most hilarious books on the subject, as he shows the glaring hypocrisy and outright stupidity of recent legislation crusades. This huge tome is also filled with the most profound, funny, and frightening quotes from diverse sources. "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" should be read by every freethinker and young person in the country!