What if before any political decision was made in America, it was filtered through an individual liberty sieve instead of, as is currently the case, a left-wing political idealism filter? Liberty? In America? I know; a radical thought these days. However, let’s look at the soft tyranny of seatbelt and helmet mandates as public policy. Did the advocates consider these laws having first subjected them to a “liberty” litmus test? The test being: Does the edict infringe on personal liberty; is it really any of the government’s business?
No, of course they didn’t consider this—I doubt they cared. Rather than liberty, their dominant public policy is, ostensibly, safety, but more likely the true agenda is social engineering to enhance a political ideal.
Is there anything wrong with safety? Of course not, but we have to ask, who is the sovereign over an individual’s body and the care of it, the government or the individual wearing it?
I think if you asked a politically conservative person he’d answer, the individual. For too many liberal’s the answer would depend on the circumstances. For example, according to many liberals if the decision involves how you care for your body while driving a car or riding a bike or motorcycle, the government has the right to decide what you do with your own body, but if the decision involves birth control or whether or not to have an abortion, then the individual’s rights are supremely sovereign in such a way as to make any libertarian giddy, and in that case the government better, “keep its paws off my God damned body.”
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