They already mandate a lot of things "for our own good." Consider your car, 5 mph bumpers, air bags, seat belts, don't talk on the cell phone, don't drive impaired, obey the speed limits etc. All these laws and regulations about what you must/must-not have, use, or do. Or consider you home, maybe it is quake-proof/resistant, or has a basement, extra wiring, smoke detectors, etc.
Not that I'm against safe vehicles and safe driving practices. Nor am I against building codes and home safety/security. But look at the thought process that got us to the point where the government is requiring these choices now. "Too many people are getting injured/killed by xyz... We'll pass laws to protect you." (from yourselves) ...and another little bit of personal liberty gets chipped away.
If we have universal health care, backed by the government (ie. our tax dollars), it is a natural outcome of this thinking that they'll want to control diet, exercise, lifestyle choices. "Too many people are making unhealthy choices, it is a burden on the health care system, costing you money. We'll help. We'll pass laws to protect you, and reduce costs."
This is where liberal thinking and ideals leads us. They alway sound great on the surface, appealing to emotions. Who could be against healthcare? Who could be against airbags? Who wouldn't want their children to be "safer" in a gun-free zone? But when you actually dig deeper, you find that generally, all these wonderful, sound-bite good, feel-good ideals lead to fundamental problems with liberties. The entire process is geared towards taking away freedom, liberty, choices, responsibility and accountability. The time is rapidly approaching when Americans are going to have to make a profound choice and a fundamental shift in what America is. We are very far beyond the principles this Nation was founded on. Very far from what the Founding Fathers fought to create. We are either going to descend into a mediocre socialist nanny-state, or reset back to a Nation built on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
“If we have universal health care, backed by the government (ie. our tax dollars), it is a natural outcome of this thinking that they’ll want to control diet, exercise, lifestyle choices.”
Exactly. The news seems to think that the discussion is only about cost, they never consider the implications of the freedoms lost. To them I reply with the following:
When this “health care for all” crap passes, right now the legislation states that it will be illegal to sell private policies over the date of passage. It also says that HSA’s will no longer be allowed. That means that my current policy will no longer be allowed and neither I nor my employer will be allowed to privately purchase an alternative.
I will not accept the “public option” that I will be dictated to join. I will not give the government control over my physical body. I will not pay their fines, I will not surrender to the impending warrant for my arrest. When they knock on my door, I will not answer. When they kick it in, I will make the news.
How’s that for unification, libtards? You loons are currently legislating my death. I will chose the terms and I will bring as many of you along as possible!
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“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,..”