Much discussion about political and cultural matters occurs in the print media, televised media, and day-to-day with discussions between friends and acquaintances. We may often think, correctly or not, that these discussions transfer to considerations of the politicians who make and pass the laws that affect us. This is our perceived system of "representation". That somehow, politicians "hear our voice" and reflect laws appropriately to address "the issues".
Irrespective of whether or not media and day-to-day discourse translates directly to political debate in the Capitol, we can simply turn on C-SPAN or the news and see politicians going at it, with fervor over similar issues. Then, in a manner mostly unmonitored by the public at large, the outcomes of these discussions manifest themselves as laws. Laws that affect us, regulate our lives and restrict what we may and may not do. The laws also restrict what others may and may not do, which in turn may indirectly affect us and what we may and may not do.
Our lives are regulated and restricted, either directly or indirectly, by the causes of other people. Not necessarily causes that we support, but rather, other peoples causes. We pay the price. Our freedom restricted. Our life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...regulated. All as a result of other people's causes.
While you may agree with some of the causes that manifest as law in principle. Inevitably, given the jockeying and positioning of the many individuals and organizations that influence and affect the discourse that ensues, someone else's cause, not one that you deem desirable, will affect you and restrict what you do.
Was this intended for the American experiment and way of life? Regardless of that debate, we can simply ask "Is it right?"
Is this regulation and restriction of our lives due to other people's causes natural, a self-evident truth, and part of the way humans should live their lives? Are we intended to live our lives this way? Or, is living a free life, free from encumbrances and forced causes of others, an inherent right of human beings, and perhaps other living things?
If so, a system of government to support such rights, while permitting open discourse, would not allow such jockeying for causes to manifest itself in laws that affect us and restrict our rights. Thus, it would be constitutionally illegal to create laws that limit freedom to begin with. And we'd live in a society where laws are passed conservatively versus voluminously as we have now.
Has America, as it operates right now, lost consideration for the inherent rights of human beings to live free lives unencumbered by the causes of others?
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1 comment:
I agree that the Federal government has severely over-regulated our lives and unjustly restrained our freedoms.
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
-- Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution
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