[jimmyray]

Question is, how do these behaviors negatively affect society at large? Do they increase my insurance premiums? Do they increase the roles of those on public assistance? Do they increase Workers Comp costs? Do they increase the likelihood of OTJ injuries, or reduced quality of shipped goods? Will it increase the likelihood of harm to innocent bystanders (eg DUI)?

These are queried from a strictly conservative secular viewpoint.

[traviskicks]

I'm not sure, it's sort of a grey area, because a person is voluntarily asking the state to restrict them. However, I'd assume there are taxpyer burden costs ass/ with this.

I think the debate is sort of interesting, cuz I've never seen the issue addressed head on like this.

[camle]

I am loathe to put a price tag on freedom.

When the welfare rules, the 'arts' and other benificiaries (or leeches)of more direct taxpayers dollars get goverment control, then we can talk about whether the government ought to be paying for our freedoms, or whether the risks are ours to bear.

[GovernmentShrinker]

The answers to those questions depend entirely on government policies. The first question for example, re insurance premiums: if insurance companies are permitted to operate on a free market basis, and there is no tax coercion of employers into providing medical insurance for their employees (and with identical costs/benefits to all employees regardless of their behavior), then the premiums of responsible people will not go up due to the irresponsible behavior of others. This vicious circle is but one example of the insidious nature of socialism, which inevitably breeds more socialism.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

These are queried from a strictly conservative secular viewpoint.

Being concerned about efficient public assisstance and workers comp is "conservative"? That is, your grant the legitimacy of liberal programs by thinking it is "conservative" to minimize them by allowing the government to regulate behavior as well? In other words, the government created the problems, i.e. the programs and, since you can't get rid of them, i.e. solve the problems, you want the government to patch them up by restricting liberty, i.e. create new problems. That may reduce your burden on those programs so that government can create another program with the savings but, my friend, that ain't "conservative."

[mugs99]

Question is, how do these behaviors negatively affect society at large? Do they increase my insurance premiums? Do they increase the roles of those on public assistance? Do they increase Workers Comp costs? Do they increase the likelihood of OTJ injuries, or reduced quality of shipped goods? Will it increase the likelihood of harm to innocent bystanders (eg DUI)?

The needs of society are greater than the rights of the individual?

These are queried from a strictly conservative secular viewpoint.

The concept of the fasces will be the downfall of American liberty...IMHO
. .