There was an interesting discussion on the Glenn Beck show Friday afternoon. Glenn was discussing political viewpoints and knowing your own mind.
Most of us claim to want less government intrusion into our lives. Many even consider ourselves libertarian. And yet, when the rubber hits the road, we tend to hedge and admit that we want government regulation of certain substances and certain behavior.
Beck and Judge Andrew Napolitano examined the results of that regulation. It was quite an eye-opener.
Here are just a few things to consider.
1) Should the government have the right to control gun ownership and to require firearm registration? The authors of our Constitution did not find it necessary for the government to regulate gun ownership, and yet now our government tells us what weapons we are permitted to own, how many guns we are permitted to purchase, and requires us to register those firearms.
What business is it of the government if I purchase a firearm? Will regulating MY gun ownership prevent the use of firearms in criminal activity? Of course not! When guns are regulated, or even banned, criminals have no problem obtaining weapons. In fact, the most dangerous places in America are “gun-free zones” such as universities, for criminals know there will be no armed citizens to stop them, should they decide to open fire, as in the case of the Virginia Tech massacre.
Gun regulation and registration serve no purpose except to provide the government with a list of gun owners whose weapons they can confiscate, should they deem them too “dangerous”, as tyrants often do.
2) Should the government regulate drugs? If so, which drugs? Narcotics? Antibiotics? Sudafed?? Has government regulation of opiates prevented illegal drug trafficking? Of course not. The so-called war on drugs was conceived decades ago, yet we still have a problem with illegal drugs in this country. As a criminal will obtain a gun, so an addict will obtain drugs, no matter how heavily they are regulated.
I think we’re all aware that the prime result of current government regulation of the pharmaceutical industry is that it takes decades and millions of dollars to bring a new drug to market, and when that drug does finally make it through all the bureaucratic red tape, I’ll need a prescription to be able to purchase it at a greatly inflated cost.
And where will government regulation end? Now, some cities have outlawed transfat and are considering regulating salt and sugar, for pete’s sake! The end result of government regulation always is more and more intrusion into our lives.
Many of you are probably complaining that without government regulation, unscrupulous men will take advantage of the naïve or uneducated. Yes, you’re probably right. Wouldn’t that be a great incentive for people to educate themselves and to check out products before they buy, rather than rely on the government to coddle them?
eBay is a partially-free market. Its main source of regulation, outside the already-existing government regulations, is the feedback of the customers. If a seller is unreliable or sells shoddy merchandise, the suckers who were taken in by him say so publicly on the site. That is a great incentive for sellers to deal fairly with their customers.
Or take your local community. Do you know a good auto garage, one who does good work and charges fair prices? How did you find out about it? That’s right: word of mouth. A mechanic who does poor work will soon have no work to do.
This same dynamic would work with regard to drugs, alcohol and other government-regulated substances. If alcohol were not government-regulated, would we have more alcoholics? Of course not! All government regulation does is add frustration to our lives and, here in Pennsylvania, force us to purchase our beer and wine at government-run or –licensed distributors, instead of simply picking it up at our local grocer.
3) Should the government set “safety standards” for automobiles? Why should the federal government force me to purchase a car with airbags or seatbelts? Why should the government force me to use a “child safety seat”? Such things did not exist when I was a child, yet somehow I managed to survive without government intervention.
Should the government set mileage and emissions requirements for auto manufacturers? Don’t you think the car-buying public is smart enough to choose a vehicle that gets good mileage, if mileage is an important consideration? And if it is NOT an important consideration to me, why should the government force its opinion on me?
We began as a free nation, but look at us now. Where have our liberties gone? Government has extended its reach into each of our lives. We can hardly take a step without government regulation, oversight or control.
The Obama administration is going full speed ahead to try to place even more regulations and restrictions on our lives. If they have their way, I will be sitting in jail for failure to purchase government-approved health insurance. That’s patently absurd and yet, that’s precisely what Congressional Democrats are trying to force down our throats.
We need to stop government intrusion into our lives! And we need to stop it now!
Most of us claim to want less government intrusion into our lives. Many even consider ourselves libertarian. And yet, when the rubber hits the road, we tend to hedge and admit that we want government regulation of certain substances and certain behavior.
Beck and Judge Andrew Napolitano examined the results of that regulation. It was quite an eye-opener.
Here are just a few things to consider.
1) Should the government have the right to control gun ownership and to require firearm registration? The authors of our Constitution did not find it necessary for the government to regulate gun ownership, and yet now our government tells us what weapons we are permitted to own, how many guns we are permitted to purchase, and requires us to register those firearms.
What business is it of the government if I purchase a firearm? Will regulating MY gun ownership prevent the use of firearms in criminal activity? Of course not! When guns are regulated, or even banned, criminals have no problem obtaining weapons. In fact, the most dangerous places in America are “gun-free zones” such as universities, for criminals know there will be no armed citizens to stop them, should they decide to open fire, as in the case of the Virginia Tech massacre.
Gun regulation and registration serve no purpose except to provide the government with a list of gun owners whose weapons they can confiscate, should they deem them too “dangerous”, as tyrants often do.
2) Should the government regulate drugs? If so, which drugs? Narcotics? Antibiotics? Sudafed?? Has government regulation of opiates prevented illegal drug trafficking? Of course not. The so-called war on drugs was conceived decades ago, yet we still have a problem with illegal drugs in this country. As a criminal will obtain a gun, so an addict will obtain drugs, no matter how heavily they are regulated.
I think we’re all aware that the prime result of current government regulation of the pharmaceutical industry is that it takes decades and millions of dollars to bring a new drug to market, and when that drug does finally make it through all the bureaucratic red tape, I’ll need a prescription to be able to purchase it at a greatly inflated cost.
And where will government regulation end? Now, some cities have outlawed transfat and are considering regulating salt and sugar, for pete’s sake! The end result of government regulation always is more and more intrusion into our lives.
Many of you are probably complaining that without government regulation, unscrupulous men will take advantage of the naïve or uneducated. Yes, you’re probably right. Wouldn’t that be a great incentive for people to educate themselves and to check out products before they buy, rather than rely on the government to coddle them?
eBay is a partially-free market. Its main source of regulation, outside the already-existing government regulations, is the feedback of the customers. If a seller is unreliable or sells shoddy merchandise, the suckers who were taken in by him say so publicly on the site. That is a great incentive for sellers to deal fairly with their customers.
Or take your local community. Do you know a good auto garage, one who does good work and charges fair prices? How did you find out about it? That’s right: word of mouth. A mechanic who does poor work will soon have no work to do.
This same dynamic would work with regard to drugs, alcohol and other government-regulated substances. If alcohol were not government-regulated, would we have more alcoholics? Of course not! All government regulation does is add frustration to our lives and, here in Pennsylvania, force us to purchase our beer and wine at government-run or –licensed distributors, instead of simply picking it up at our local grocer.
3) Should the government set “safety standards” for automobiles? Why should the federal government force me to purchase a car with airbags or seatbelts? Why should the government force me to use a “child safety seat”? Such things did not exist when I was a child, yet somehow I managed to survive without government intervention.
Should the government set mileage and emissions requirements for auto manufacturers? Don’t you think the car-buying public is smart enough to choose a vehicle that gets good mileage, if mileage is an important consideration? And if it is NOT an important consideration to me, why should the government force its opinion on me?
We began as a free nation, but look at us now. Where have our liberties gone? Government has extended its reach into each of our lives. We can hardly take a step without government regulation, oversight or control.
The Obama administration is going full speed ahead to try to place even more regulations and restrictions on our lives. If they have their way, I will be sitting in jail for failure to purchase government-approved health insurance. That’s patently absurd and yet, that’s precisely what Congressional Democrats are trying to force down our throats.
We need to stop government intrusion into our lives! And we need to stop it now!
© 2010 by Libbi Adams. All rights reserved.
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