The knock on effect of doing dumb shit is that you are taking resources away from systems that are already heavily restrained. Smoking should be heavily taxed because by treating smoking cancers means the waiting list is longer for other treatments.
If you fine me for parking or driving dangerously there is at least some chance I won't do it again.
In the U.S., there isn't much of a waiting list for most things as far as medical treatment. There are a million things that are bad for you. Should we have extra taxes on people who drive more, eat more fast food, scuba dive, parasail, exercise less, etc.? In a system in which people pay for their own medical care and insurance, smoking is your own business (and perhaps that of your insurance company). But there's no shortage of medical care that isn't created by government intervention. I mean, there's a definite shortage of free medical care to be sure.
If I'm driving dangerously, I'm endangering other people. That's different than not wearing a seatbelt in which case you are really only endangering yourself.
It's fairly reasonable to have these taxes to offset the negative externalities whether it's environmental or pressure on healthcare.
Well if you put it in a wall and you go through the windscreen someone might have to try save you or break the news to your loved ones etc.
In America for healthcare you're mostly fine if you have money or good insurance.
In Europe/Canada unless you can afford to get treatment privately or It's covered by insurance then there are waiting lists and delays to get treatment.
In those countries if everyone is paying for everyone's healthcare which is probably an ethically good thing to do for society if done efficiently and fairly then some taxes on being stupid that can help fund better service are probably a good idea. Minimum alcohol pricing for example reduces liver diseases and other harm from alcohol.
I think if you participate in dangerous sports you should get adequate training and preparation for accidents. Maybe if horse jumping or surfing or whatever caused disproportionate costs to society then gear or training could be taxed higher but it wouldn't be in the same category as parking somewhere that could highly likely cause an accident or smoking or drinking or fast food. Things that society should discourage for the benefit of everyone.
the perspective is different between Europe and America and I don't think there's an exact right answer on social policies. I understand the libertarian reasoning of leave me alone and don't interfere in my life
At the end of the day, it comes down to how much you trust government with your money. At the end of the day, i don't. At all. And there are plenty of obvious reasons why.
Just for example, gas taxes exist supposedly to pay for roads, etc. but often they get redirected to other things. In Florida there is a state run lottery that started back in the 1980s. The profits were supposed to go to schools. It makes an obscene amount of money. I don't know where the money is going but sales taxes go up, property taxes go up (as a percent) and never go down. Yet they don't have enough money to pay teachers a reasonable salary. It's absurd. So, while I don't believe that NO government is the answer, I also don't believe that MORE government is the answer and firmly believe it is way too big as it is. "Big" defined here basically refers to what percent of the economy they control.
Government should be there for basic services and arguably as a safety net. The problem is that "safety net" has grown to become all encompassing control of wide swaths of people's life. Monopoly's are not generally good which is why I'm not a fan of the idea of single payer healthcare. It reduces competition, increasing overall costs and slowing progress. Government as a safety net health care provider for those that can't afford it? Maybe. But inevitably these things seem to grow out of control.
The Affordable Health Care Act (A.K.A. Obamacare) you would assume was designed to make health care more affordable. For SOME people it did by enabling them to get insurance when they otherwise would not have been able to. However, it had the effect of reducing competition among insurance companies and for MOST people increasing insurance costs (which were already quite expensive) a SIGNIFICANT amount. So trust government in these matters? Not likely.
At the end of the day, people should be responsible for themselves. I'm not saying they shouldn't get help if they need it but it shouldn't be the government's base job to take care of you. The government is not your mommy and it is not your daddy. If I wind up in the hospital because I'm not wearing a seatbelt then that should be MY responsibility. Fining me for it is stupid. Note: I always wear my seatbelt but that is and should be my decision. The logical extension of the idea that government should make you pay for risky activities that might incur a cost to society (mainly because government has elected to pay for such costs in the first place) is to simply ban everything. Fast food? banned. Cigars? banned. Alcohol? banned. Watching too much TV? banned. Honestly, that's not the society I want. Lets go the other direction. If my actions incur a cost then I should pay for it. If they don't, stop stealing my money. We teach kids to be responsible. Why can't adults be?