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.
Check the zoo programs for them over the past thirty years. They are still kicking and a zoo is why. But anyway on with the debate.
That is one super ignorant statement.
>>Rob you might think you can see every car all the time...it is your right to think you can be perfect. Seems you had trouble with already three times eh?<<
No, actually the reason I didn't go down is that I ride and drive very defensive and am prepared for people to turn in front of me. 'can't help what happens to their car when we impact though.
Regarding being able to see every car, that is why I stop at BLIND corners where I can't see. Other than that I just treat ALL red lights as "flashing" red lights, short of the possibility of a cop being around. Based on my experience by where I work, I am not alone.
In Washington state, there is no rule of law.
Gabz, it's worse than that. 99% of all accidents were caused by drivers licenced by the state to operate motor vehicles on the highway at lethal speeds. ;-)
>>These are EXACTLY the same principle you are proposing with seat belts - no difference.<<
And I would agree with all of them.
Wow, it is the destination that counts.
Dead people are cheaper than injured people.
Just a thought.
You're welcome.
However, if you think people will read it and stop arguing with you, you're wrong.
That was a few hundred posts ago on this thread, for example.
It should be a CHOICE to pay those premiums right? That is the point you have been making this whole thread right?
With comments like this and the others that you've made, perhaps you need to change your screen name to Crispy Stuff.
I've been following this thread, as I always do when something brings out the extreme libertarian element at FR, have resisted the urge to chime in until now, can do so no longer.
Basically, I ask this question: Is it possible to be a good political conservative without being a libertarian? Because I have been a conservative political activist for going on four decades now, but I do not have a libertarian bone in my body. I guess it's because I'm an old-line law and order conservative from the '60s, and doesn't the entire concept of law and order inherently involve compelling people, in some circumstances, to do that which they do not want to do, or prohibiting them from doing that which they want to do? In other words, placing limits on their personal freedom.
And is it nannystatism ... it certainly isn't socialism, it does not involve the means of production; IMHO we come off looking bad when we scream "socialism" at everything we disagree with ... or is it the realization that things have changed to such an extent in the last 80 years or so ... and to me, this predates the New Deal or any of the changes FDR wrought in our country which we're still suffering the consequences of today, has more to do with extreme urbanization, changes in the way people do business, so many people going hither and yon, etc. ... to where everyone's lives are so interconnected ... and I'm not talking about through the government, don't even put them in the equation, I'm talking about just in our everyday functioning and relationships to each other ... that it's a pipedream to think that we can ever again have the kind of unfettered individualism that folks on the extreme libertarian side advocate? Isn't it pretty nigh impossible to put genies back in bottles?
Donning my Nomex now. :)
"Why is it OK to have speed limits, but not seat belt laws."
You can't be serious.
In case you are, let me put it this way: the purpose of the government is to protect our borders from invasion and protect us from each other.
The speed limit satisfies number two. The seat belt laws are out of scope of the purpose of the government - at least they are in a free society, which we clearly are not.
It may be an open forum but name calling post after psot after post isn't exactly part of the program.
Go on and continue the namecalling if you must I will simply do as you just said. I will disregard your posts and let you namecall on your own.
I have asked you to refrain from posting to me based on your namecalling and an honorable person would do so.
I guess we shall see huh.
Haven't buried anyone lately have you?
Drunk or otherwise, ( some on this thread would say it is a violation of a right to enforce that aspect also),
He had the same attitude. WHY stop on a deserted road. If you remember he thought that highway was deserted also.
Can you just imagine the Founders sitting around discussing the Constitution and Bill of Rights when someone brings up the idea of listing the right to travel about on horseback or horsedrawn carriage?
They'd have been laughed out of the room. No one would ever dare to restrict your right to travel or call it a privilege.
It's one of those pesky unenumerated rights. It's our by virtue of being here.
>>I love how you will inject abortion into this. <<
>>I do love however that you found a way to tie abortion to seat belts!<<
Thank you and thank you. I aims to please (and so does Louise).
There are no public roads, or we wouldn't be having this discussion
There are only government roads and private roads (and the private roads are really only rented from the government).
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