The text below was extracted from a YouTube Short by Nick Freitas. It got me thinking about how the government has wormed its way into our private affairs over my lifetime. This encroachment appears to be by driven the a minority, better known as the Tyranny of the Minority.
There seems to be a misunderstanding between me and some of my liberal acquaintances. I’m not trying to tell you how to raise your kids, I’m not trying to tell you where to worship or what car to drive or what food to eat, I’m not trying to take more of your money, I’m not trying to tell you how to run your business, I’m not trying to tell you how to run your life. Because quite frankly, as a legislator, none of that is my business.
So if the reason you’re mad with me is not that I’m standing in the way of you being able to live the way that you want, but because I won’t use the force of government to compel other people to live the way that you think they should. Well then maybe liberal doesn’t describe your political philosophy. And there’s a different word for that. ~ Nick Freitas US Army Special Forces
When I heard this short oration from Nick I thought, yes, this is the heart of the problem. It is using the force of government to compel other people to live the way that you think they should that angers us.
Most of us understand the government makes laws that punish certain behaviors. Typically these things are agreed upon by a very large percentage of the population. We mostly agree that murder, theft, and assault (including rape, child molestation et cetera) are things the government needs to prohibit through the force of law.
Nick outlined a series of things the government needs to stay out of. The government needs to stay out of our faith, our children’s upbringing, our choice of vehicles, our choice of food, our free speech, and so on as long as it doesn’t violate an agreed-upon law. The job of our government is to ensure liberty, not control every aspect of life and business.
This is a dilemma that has existed on both sides of the political spectrum. Rather than increasing liberties, the government tries to solve all the problems. I think they do this to increase their own power but maybe that is my cynicism coming out.
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