Subject:
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Re: Swift was Right! (He just named the wrong people...)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 17 Jun 2003 02:47:02 GMT
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Viewed:
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1280 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Pedro Silva wrote:
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Having said all that...
The mere fact that I can break the law means I run my life. The fact I choose
not to do so means I run my life in a socially acceptable fashion and thus
can expect respectful treatment from my peers.
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I guess when it gets to the details, there’s the rub: “socially acceptable.”
There’s a lot of stuff that gets wrap up with that that itself has nothing to do
with whether one obeys the laws or not.
In the U.S., it used to be thought that one had the right “to be left alone.” It
was sufficient, in theory, that if one was complying with the basics of the
common law that one was otherwise free to do whatever.
Then comes the idea of regulation.
Like when I ride my motorcycle it is now part of the California Vehicle Code
that I must also wear a helmet. Leaving the question of whether that’s a good
idea or not to the side, I now have the freedom to not wear the helmet only if I
also allow that I may have to submit to paying a possible fine for not wearing
the helmet. That’s not exactly freedom as I envision it.
Government has long since adopted a parental role in the governance of its
citizens. And spreading the cost of things amongst a group has long since taken
hold of our legislators.
Somebody was recently commenting that one might have to pay a utility “tax” for
the “non-use” of the electrical utility in the event that one had the means to
generate one’s own electricity. Ridiculous, of course! And again, not exactly
freedom as I envision it.
Where will it end?
The Declaration of Independence specifies the the grievances of the colonists
against their king, it states: “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and
sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their
substance.”
I’ll be keeping my guns, thanks. Both as a means to defend my own rights and as
a moral duty to my neighbors.
-- Hop-Frog
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