Just how involved do you believe the state should be in our personal, day-to-day lives? For instance, is it good to have government regulations to mandate what you and your family may eat, drink or otherwise consume? Should the state be able to tell you what you must wear, including all the various kinds of protective/safety gear? Should laws be enacted dictating the state of health you are required to attain and what steps you must take to maintain that state? Now I’m not suggesting for a minute that these things aren’t important but I’m asking should you get to be the one to make an informed and educated choice or should the “government” simply decide and thus remove that choice from you?
Is it OK for the state deciding to unilaterally assume the authority to “co-parent” your children and thus decide what they must study, how they may play or what they can say and believe? In many instances these “schooling” issues go well beyond the realm of the “3R’s” (academics) and become nothing more than indoctrination and social engineering.
On the other hand, we do live in a civilized society and sometimes there needs to be reasonable limits placed on personal freedoms in order to be able to live freely and peacefully together within the communities we choose. Sometimes we agree to compromise a little in order to support the needs of the bigger picture. We agree to be governed BUT that government must be limited (and, I believe, constantly monitored and actively restrained to prevent it from exceeding its limits). After all, in a free society we choose our leaders and we agree to follow their leadership so long as they do not exceed the limits which we have imposed upon them. They do not grant us our freedoms – rather it is us who grants them the limited privilege to serve, govern and lead.
With the above view in mind, I believe the degree to which the state should be permitted involvement in our own personal lives (if at all) should be absolutely minimal. Unfortunately, more and more, this is not the case. From where I stand, both governmental and bureaucratic involvement has become an insidious, ever growing malignancy that is slowly taking over our personal rights, freedoms and responsibilities. The thing is, the process has been implemented in such a manner as to make every intrusion seem “reasonable” and barely noticeable. Each intrusion is craftily prepared to sell to a largely uninformed public. It is often presented in a highly crafted manner of 30 second sound-bites within some mass media broadcast. The cumulative effect is designed to make the loss of particular freedoms more palatable. With every utterance of, “there oughta’ be a law…,” someone else’s freedom is at risk, because laws always have “unintended consequences” and are applied with very broad strokes.
In the short time I’ve been on the planet, as a “baby boomer,” I’ve seen a significant erosion of individual rights and freedoms. As I was growing up, we enjoyed a number of activities including various sports, running about or riding our bicycles, climbing trees, rocks and anything else we could find to climb. We had skateboards and we swam and boated in the lakes and/or ocean. We ate all sorts of things (sweet and otherwise) in our lunches. The only requirements for these activities were set by our parents and the only things you needed to participate were the bare minimum (as for example, to play hockey you needed skates and a stick).
It’s not that we were reckless or our parents were irresponsible (indeed quite the opposite is true) but rather the state didn’t presume to dictate the mandatory safety restrictions. That responsibility was properly left up to our parents. Occasionally a kid would get hurt… but guess what; they still do today despite the piling on of even more and more onerous regulation. Frankly, by today’s so called necessary safety standards, humanity should have disappeared from the planet long ago. It hasn’t however, and I truly believe we were all the better off because of the variety of experiences we enjoyed growing up. Now, in a foolish and relentless effort to eliminate all risks, our freedom to choose for ourselves has become way over regulated. Society is simply drawing closer to that day when slowly but surely, along with any potential risk, all the fun will get sucked out of life. When that day finally dawns, beaming government bureaucrats will sit looking down their collective nose at the long rows of compliant, complacent folks. Perhaps they will all be sitting in the properly prescribed manner, wearing their safety suits and helmets while aging slowly in a government approved manner.
Of course, along with the push to ever more laws and regulation, there must be a corresponding increase in government surveillance, bureaucracy and spending. Afterall it is for your own good and to keep everyone safe. Never question their sincerity for they are so committed to this vision of governmental nirvana that they are prepared to spend every penny in your pocket to get there. If necessary, they’d happily spend all the money in your kids pockets as well… and for the next 3 generations if necessary. A “cradle to grave” nanny state will finally have been accomplished. Well whoopy-doo!
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