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Click it or ticket
townhall ^ | 5/24/06 | Walter WIlliams

Posted on 05/31/2006 9:42:50 AM PDT by from occupied ga

Virginia's secretary of transportation sent out a letter announcing the state's annual "Click It or Ticket" campaign May 22 through June 4. I responded to the secretary of transportation with my own letter that in part reads:

"Mr. Secretary: This is an example of the disgusting abuse of state power. Each of us owns himself, and it follows that we should have the liberty to take risks with our own lives but not that of others. That means it's a legitimate use of state power to mandate that cars have working brakes because if my car has poorly functioning brakes, I risk the lives of others and I have no right to do so. If I don't wear a seatbelt I risk my own life, which is well within my rights. As to your statement 'Lack of safety belt use is a growing public health issue that . . . also costs us all billions of dollars every year,' that's not a problem of liberty. It's a problem of socialism. No human should be coerced by the state to bear the medical expense, or any other expense, for his fellow man. In other words, the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another is morally offensive."

My letter went on to tell the secretary that I personally wear a seatbelt each time I drive; it's a good idea. However, because something is a good idea doesn't necessarily make a case for state compulsion. The justifications used for "Click It or Ticket" easily provide the template and soften us up for other forms of government control over our lives.

For example, my weekly exercise routine consists of three days' weight training and three days' aerobic training. I think it's a good idea. Like seatbelt use, regular exercise extends lives and reduces health care costs. Here's my question to government officials and others who sanction the "Click It or Ticket" campaign: Should the government mandate daily exercise for the same reasons they cite to support mandatory seatbelt use, namely, that to do so would save lives and save billions of health care dollars?

If we accept the notion that government ought to protect us from ourselves, we're on a steep slippery slope. Obesity is a major contributor to hypertension, coronary disease and diabetes, and leads not only to many premature deaths but billions of dollars in health care costs. Should government enforce, depending on a person's height, sex and age, a daily 1,400 to 2,000-calorie intake limit? There's absolutely no dietary reason to add salt to our meals. High salt consumption can lead to high blood pressure, which can then lead to stroke, heart attack, osteoporosis and asthma. Should government outlaw adding salt to meals? While you might think that these government mandates would never happen, be advised that there are busybody groups currently pushing for government mandates on how much and what we can eat.

Government officials, if given power to control us, soon become zealots. Last year, Maryland state troopers were equipped with night vision goggles, similar to those used by our servicemen in Iraq, to catch night riders not wearing seatbelts. Maryland state troopers boasted that they bagged 44 drivers traveling unbuckled under the cover of darkness.

Philosopher John Stuart Mill, in his treatise "On Liberty," said it best:  "That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him, or visiting him with any evil, in case he do otherwise."

Dr. Williams serves on the faculty of George Mason University in Fairfax, VA as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government
KEYWORDS: 4a; 4thamendment; clickitorticket; donutwatch; fourthamendment; governmentabuse; govwatch; libertarians; mdm; policeabuse; seatbelt; seatbelts; walterwilliams
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To: dfwgator
You do not have the right to drive, it is a privilege, and to keep that privilege there are rules to follow.

I don't agree with this statement, but, for the sake of the argument, let us assume it to be true. Do you also forfeit the right to use the public highways, which you helped to pay for with your taxes, altogether?

Consider this scenario: You don't drive; you don't even have a driver's license. Perhaps you are blind, as you discussed in one of your previous posts. You own a car. (I'm assuming you would have no problem with someone who cannot drive merely owning a vehicle.) You hire a driver, or perhaps simply ask a friend or relative to drive you somewhere. Should you still be compelled by force, or threat of force, to wear your seatbelt? (Passengers are also required to wear seatbelts in most jurisditions that compel drivers to do so.)

Now the question of whether driving is a priviledge or a right is moot. The question becomes: Is the ability to travel freely on the public roads a right, or merely a priviledge? If you say it is still a priviledge, you have potentially restricted one's movements, unless they comply with the seatbelt law, as many places, including public and even government buildings where you may be compelled to go, are inaccessible without using the public thoroughfares. It may very well be impossible to walk where you need to go without traversing private property, permission for which may not be given, as many roads lack sidewalks, or even prohibit pedestrian traffic.

An interesting question, no?

581 posted on 05/31/2006 9:44:40 PM PDT by rmh47 (Go Kats! - Got Seven? [NRA Life Member])
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To: dirtboy

the thing is...there ALREADY is a law


582 posted on 05/31/2006 10:48:13 PM PDT by chrispycsuf (our troops need our support now more than ever)
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To: freepatriot32

actually yes...about 50 dollars less


583 posted on 05/31/2006 10:51:09 PM PDT by chrispycsuf (our troops need our support now more than ever)
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To: Cobra64

kiss my shift key


584 posted on 05/31/2006 11:00:17 PM PDT by chrispycsuf (our troops need our support now more than ever)
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To: chrispycsuf

Actually I LOATHE what Lincoln did to the Constitution and what Bush is doing to it now. You CANNOT POSSIBLY achieve good ends with evil means. Good intentions do not and cannot excuse violating the Supreme Law of the Land, ever. In the case of Bush, as it is most current, it would appear that he has no intention of doing what we hired him to do (like secure our borders) but yet EVERY intention of doing all he can to achieve each and every non- and UN-Constitutional thing he can get away with... such as the USA-PATRIOT Act and No Child Left Behind and that God-AWFUL prescription drug thing, NONE of which is done under any possible authority granted by the Constitution. But you agree 99 percent with what Bush does... which says volumes about YOU.


585 posted on 05/31/2006 11:05:23 PM PDT by dcwusmc (The government is supposed to fit the Constitution, NOT the Constitution fit the government!)
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To: chrispycsuf
Apparently you were among the 140 students mentioned in this article.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1641596/posts

586 posted on 05/31/2006 11:14:43 PM PDT by Cobra64 (All we get are lame ideas from Republicans and lame criticism from dems about those lame ideas.)
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To: dcwusmc

so the patriots who founded this country you must also loathe...they went against english law to rise up against the government and the constitution. i hired him to run the government. Protecting our borders is not the only thing. WE have the border patrol. he has called on the national guard...he is protecting our borders and security by way of the patriot act. I have lost no liberties since it implication....in fact the only ones losing liberties are terrorists.


587 posted on 05/31/2006 11:17:19 PM PDT by chrispycsuf (our troops need our support now more than ever)
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To: Cobra64

um no...i said so cal...namely CSUF...home of the Fullerton Titan Baseball Team...but no...i tend to write like this as i usually have many windows and IM's going...its a blog not an essay...i am an excellent student with perfect grammer...i just type might thoughts better this way.


588 posted on 05/31/2006 11:19:48 PM PDT by chrispycsuf (our troops need our support now more than ever)
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To: chrispycsuf
I have always worn a seatbelt, and people who are my passengers always wear seatbelts, and when I'm the passenger, I always wear seatbelts......

however, let's be honest here......the police use such ruses to claim millions in fines for their departments.....the cops could care less if you die in an accident, but the thought of all that easy money......just waiting there....

and what better things could the cops do really?.....I mean, its not like drug abuse, child molestation, rape or murder are really that BIG of a problem, are they?....../sarcasm/

589 posted on 05/31/2006 11:25:11 PM PDT by cherry (.)
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To: chrispycsuf

"so the patriots who founded this country you must also loathe...they went against english law to rise up against the government and the constitution."

I find this incomprehensible at best. The Founders WROTE the Constitution after the Revolution was over.

"i hired him to run the government. Protecting our borders is not the only thing. WE have the border patrol. he has called on the national guard...he is protecting our borders and security by way of the patriot act."

YOU hired him? How is it that we have reports of so many people coming over our southern border illegally if YOUR employee is doing his job properly? How is it that so many islamic articles are regularly found in the desert, abandoned? Things like prayer rugs and Korans. What are these people carrying that would be so much more important than the accoutrements of their "religion of Peace"?

"I have lost no liberties since it implication....in fact the only ones losing liberties are terrorists."

Go here (http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/october2004/091004patriotact.htm ) to find a smattering of examples of MISUSE and ABUSE of your precious USA-PATRIOT Act.


590 posted on 05/31/2006 11:42:36 PM PDT by dcwusmc (The government is supposed to fit the Constitution, NOT the Constitution fit the government!)
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To: BlueStateDepression

You offer alternatives, but you do not expand our choices with those other modes of transit. In fact, you restrict our available choices.

In 1978, I was in the 'shotgun' seat in a 1968 'Cuda that had no seatbelts. The other car wasn't equipped with them either. In a headon collision at 35 MPH each, all 4 people walked away with relatively minor injuries that required treatment, but not hospitalization.

How in the world did we ever survive? According to you, that just isn't possible.


591 posted on 05/31/2006 11:48:55 PM PDT by Badray (CFR my ass. There's not too much money in politics. There's too much money in government hands.)
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To: dfwgator

It didn't take long for the "driving is a privilege" faction to show up.


592 posted on 06/01/2006 12:09:00 AM PDT by Nik Naym (Please pardon our dust: New tagline under construction.)
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To: BlueStateDepression

If you really aren't a socialist, you are their dream -- a lemming.

Governments are delegated certain limited powers. They can enact laws within that perameter. When they exceed their limits, the not only encourage disobedience to that law but to law in general.

Those who enforce those laws also lose respect as they are seen as meter maids with guns rather than peace officers.

Is there a law -- your line in the sand -- that you just won't obey? Will you turn in your guns if they pass a law? It's the law, you know.

Do you have a line?


593 posted on 06/01/2006 12:13:45 AM PDT by Badray (CFR my ass. There's not too much money in politics. There's too much money in government hands.)
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To: BlueStateDepression
Posters like you drive people away from sites like this.

LOL

He's been here 7 years and you, 7 months.

Patience wears thin after a while. We are all trying to point out the fallacies in your thinking and you are being obtuse about it.

This is a conservative site and one where liberty is appreciated for its utility. We don't cotton to nannystaters like you.

594 posted on 06/01/2006 12:36:38 AM PDT by Badray (CFR my ass. There's not too much money in politics. There's too much money in government hands.)
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To: BlueStateDepression

Regarding your deer scenario:

I have hit two deer. One in suburbia at 40 MPH without loss of control. One in the boondocks at 70 MPH and no loss of control. Didn't even kill the deer and didn't do much damage to the cars.

I also hit an animal (unknown) on the turnpike while driving at close to 100 MPH in a subcompact. Again no loss of control although I have no idea if the animal survived, but the car and the passengers did. That was my first collision with anything and I was a kid with little experience driving.

So, am I extraordinarily lucky or an exceptional driver to have not lost control of the car.


595 posted on 06/01/2006 12:58:39 AM PDT by Badray (CFR my ass. There's not too much money in politics. There's too much money in government hands.)
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To: Tokra
That is not always true - there have been cases of people injured by a body being rocketed through a windshield becasue they were not belted in.

And people have been killed precisely because they were belted in. They obeyed the law and it cost them their life. Perhaps my scenario is rare, but so is yours. I prefer to make the choice myself. 4 years now without losing control or killing anyone.

596 posted on 06/01/2006 1:18:06 AM PDT by Badray (CFR my ass. There's not too much money in politics. There's too much money in government hands.)
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To: RobRoy

Don't forget the early air bags that deployed with such force that they were killing people, mostly the frail and elderly, little kids, and small women.

It was another government_one_size_fits_all 'solution' that killed people.


597 posted on 06/01/2006 1:22:11 AM PDT by Badray (CFR my ass. There's not too much money in politics. There's too much money in government hands.)
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To: Sally'sConcerns
About a year before the law passed my son and I agreed to voluntarily wear our seat belts. We had been watching some race on television when there was a really bad crash. When the debris finally came to rest, the only identifiable part left was the cage with the driver sitting in it.

Race cars are designed so that the pieces will break loose from the cage in a smack up. Nobody wants to put that kind of expense into building passenger cars.

598 posted on 06/01/2006 1:22:53 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: BlueStateDepression

Mandating a seatbelt interlock is more government coercion. Such thinking has added thousands of dollars to the cost of cars and not all of the outcomes have been good ones.

You still don't get it at all.


599 posted on 06/01/2006 1:28:46 AM PDT by Badray (CFR my ass. There's not too much money in politics. There's too much money in government hands.)
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To: Kirkwood

We are born with God's blessing of freedom. It is our birthright, and that includes the right to be an idiot by refusing to wear a seatbelt.

Insurance is a man-made construct - a societal decision to create the ability to indemnify. You don't have a constitutional right to insurance.

Your aregument is similar to the argument for gun control - it's okay to infringe on the peoples' Second Amendment right because we've made a societal decision, through legislation and a criminal justice system, to not permanently incarcerate people who can't be trusted with gun ownership.


600 posted on 06/01/2006 1:35:30 AM PDT by Jezebelle
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