I've been thinking about laws meant to protect people from themselves in one way or another. The July 4th holiday always brings this to mind with the obligatory front-page warnings in the local paper about the dangers of fireworks.
How does any government that claims to be supporting freedom get off making any law aimed at forcing anyone to do something or not do something strictly for their own safety? The very idea ought to be anathema to a freedom-loving "legislator".
The only laws that should ever be passed are those which further the overall freedom of the people - and not "freedom from", ever. Americans should always be free to experience the consequences of their own actions, for good or bad. The only time the government should step in is if one person's actions cause injury to another or to some others property - and then only at the complaint of the injured party or a witness to the injury.
If children are shielded from all danger while growing, they will never mature as fully-functioning citizens of a free state. Of course, such defective children are key ingredients of a true nanny state. Without a cowering populace, the nanny state could not survive.
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