Reply #99: "maximum personal freedom" [View All]

[welshTerrier2]

this is not as black and white as some libertarians would have you believe ... there are many situations where one person's freedom imposes on another person ...

for example, if you make your kids stay in the house because there's so much gun violence where you live, should we make it easier for people to get guns? if you drive your big F%^&*ing SUV and use more fossil fuels than necessary, is that OK just because you have the money to pay for it? if you can become wealthy enough, either through inheritance or earnings, to influence government policy more than a poorer citizen, is that OK?

"maximum personal freedom" is a good place to start when defining any policy ... but we also shouldn't view severe restrictions on individual liberties as "all bad" ... when the real intent of those restrictions is to protect the liberties of the less powerful and the less wealthy, there's a good case to be made for government regulation ... your freedom to swing your fist in the air ends at my nose ...