[Arthalion]

"Because they want to" is a bad rationale for anything. There are people who want to walk naked down the sidewalk in full view of your kids. There are people who want to marry children. There are people who want to clearcut Yosemite Valley and build high rise hotels and golf courses in its place. There are people who want to dump toxic chemicals in their backyards.

We don't permit these activities because, as a civilized society, we understand that sometimes the needs of society have to trump the desires of the individual. Except for those specifically defined within the Constitution, all rights in the United States are subject to alteration or revocation at any time that society deems it neccesary to do so. That's the downside of democracy.

If society decides that it's detrimental to have polluting, low efficiency vehicles clog our roadways, there's no constitutional, ethical, or moral reason why we shouldn't be able to ban them. I'm not saying we should do that (my wife drives one, FWIW), but want to remind everyone that the US was actually founded on the ideals of SOCIETAL freedom, not individual freedom. We as a society have the right and ability to determine our direction and future. If a particular behavior or technology proves detrimental to that future, our Constitution gives us the right and ability to ban that behavior or technology at a state or federal level.

The "we should have the right to do whatever we want" argument is the domain of gays and communists, and isn't any more valid when used by a conservative than when it's used by a lefty.

[thackney]

US was actually founded on the ideals of SOCIETAL freedom, not individual freedom

I disagree. I believe the founding of the US was more a cause of people trying to limit government and protecting the individual from a tyrannical government.

[B Knotts]

the US was actually founded on the ideals of SOCIETAL freedom, not individual freedom.

Have I stumbled onto the wrong website? Is this not Free Republic?

I'm not a minarchist by any stretch of the imagination, but this claim is bizarre.

[slowhandluke]

Except for those specifically defined within the Constitution, all rights in the United States are subject to alteration or revocation at any time that society deems it neccesary to do so.

Some of our Founders argued that having a Bill of Rights added to a document intended to strictly limit government was a mistake, in that some would take the Bill of Rights to be a instead a limited list of the rights of the citizen.

It seems those pessimistic Founders might be right.

[CSM]

"but want to remind everyone that the US was actually founded on the ideals of SOCIETAL freedom, not individual freedom."

Coulda fooled me:

Ninth Amendment - Unenumerated Rights


Amendment Text | Annotations
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.