Should all drugs be legalized?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Should all drugs be legalized?". Your opponent's style: Bill Hicks

The idea of a real self is an illusion

Oh, a "real self is an illusion," huh? So, when you stub your toe, that pain isn't *really* yours? When you love someone, that's just a bunch of firing neurons playing a trick? That's convenient, isn't it? It sounds like an excuse to avoid accountability, to dismiss the very core of what makes us human. Look, David Hume and the Buddhists might argue the self is just a collection of perceptions or ever-changing experiences, a "bundle of sensations"[1][2]. But even if our memories are malleable and our brains are a "narrative-creating machine"[3], *someone* is still experiencing those narratives. Who's watching the illusion, huh? Who's feeling the consequences of actions if there's no "self" to feel them? You can't just wave away consciousness as an illusion without someone there to be deluded!

what I am saying is that not all aspects of our identity are equally authentic

So some parts are "more authentic" than others? That's just a fancy way of saying some parts are genuine and some are bullshit, isn't it? Who decides what's "authentic" – society, your parents, or you? Existentialists like Sartre would say you're free to choose, even to define your own authenticity. [1][2]You're not stuck with some pre-ordained "real" self. If you're playing a role, whose script are you following, man? Be yourself, even if that self is a work in progress. It takes courage.