Thirty years ago I suffered my first infringement of reasonable liberty. It was a little thing, it was the passage of a seat belt law, that few thought meant very much at all. To me, it was the state laying claim to my body, determining that it was their role in my life to tell me when I should put Tab A into Slot B. Now, I have studied the statistics and I have never claimed that seat belts are not good ideas, or that they don’t save lives, because it is and they do, but a law claiming that the state has a greater interest in my life than I do is absurd.
It didn’t take much digging to uncover the real factors involved, which were insurance company lobbyists and the statists teaming up to pass a law that instantly achieved two goals: 1) save money for the insurance companies; 2) establish a precedent that the state has the right and the role to dictate the actions of its citizens.
Since then, I have done as much as I could to educate myself on political theory and, logically, the Constitution of the United States.
Since TL has inhibited open comments on his site, I shall speak here.
I rarely disagree with Mr Davis on anything substantive. However, there is one sentence in his post above that requires gentle revision.
“those who value and truly understand the purpose and utility of liberty” should live their lives in accordance with their beliefs and values, despite any attempted infringement by those who claim political authority.
To conclude with “must impose it (my will) on the masses” is an imposition of the same political violence, or threat thereof, on others that I wish to eliminate from my life.
Rightful Liberty does not empower one to impose their will on others.