The Wrong Debates

Hello friends,

You might have noticed that I was conspicuously absent during the elections, leaving my two cents in my pocket, so to speak.  I have heard that there is a conflict of interest for journalists who both cover elections and vote.  I'm not sure that I count as a journalist; I wouldn't dare put a name to what I do here.  Still, I felt that the election was too important to abstain, and I didn't want to risk being considered a hypocrite if anyone out there does think of me as a journalist of sorts one day.  Therefore, I abstained from the journalistic aspect of what I do here; I didn't write.

That said, election day was yesterday, so it's on to new topics.  The first one I wish to address comes from my husband, who pointed out today that we (as a society) are having the wrong debates.  His assertion is that we should not be addressing whether or not to legalize pot, or to legalize gay marriage, or to regulate pharmaceuticals, or to allow stem cell research.  To quote him, "With everything we have done to our legal system over the last 60 years, we need to decide once and for all if we are socialist or free."

To his view, if we are free, then we have to recognize that people are free to do whatever they want as long as they aren't infringing on the rights of anyone else.  We have to recognize that we have very few "rights" but that they are broad.  For example, if you are allergic to peanuts, you do not have a right to have peanuts taken from everyone else so you can sit comfortably on a plane.  You can drive, take trains, travel by boat, and even rent or buy your own plane if you so desire.  You can also buy a rebreather or other mask and be the weird guy on the plane.  Nothing in our Constitution gives you the right to air travel on commercial jets.  If we are socialist, then we need to sit down and discuss the terms of our new republic.

This is a perspective I had not fully considered before now, and I admit it intrigued me.  So many debates are argued through economics, social impact studies, and moral and religious assertions that it's hard to not participate.  I'm guilty of it myself today, as a matter of fact.  Yet, we're always so busy with whether or not we can do something or should do something that we're not stopping to ask if we are being ourselves.  We're like teenagers- Can I stay out late?  Should I date the quarterback?  Can I pull off black nail polish?  Should I shave my head?  Most of the arguments given will be from parents, teachers, friends, foes- and they'll follow stereotypical lines for the most part.  The teenagers listen to all these arguments, and most of them bend to the opinion of whomever they value most.

It's the same with these great issues we debate.  Can we put together a health care plan that works?  Should we ban hand guns?  We talk about all the pros, and we weigh all the cons.  Yet we rarely ask the first question we should address: is it Constitutional?

The fact that the Constitution doesn't address something does not mean that it is fair game for legislation.  Our forefathers intended for our government to be simple.  The basic idea was for people who had lives outside politics to run it.  Health care wasn't addressed because doctors were free to treat or not treat as they and their conscience saw fit.  Now we infringe on the rights of the doctor to protect an imaginary right for the patient.  At what point do you have a right to medical care?  Now where do we draw the line?  Breast implants, for example, are known to build confidence in women.  Do we start subsidizing boob jobs for women with poor self-esteem?  As for hand guns, the second amendment was clear:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Shall not be infringed.  Notice that it does not say "much" at the end or "without cause".  It says that our right to own and carry a gun shall not be taken from us.  I don't know how to make it any clearer, so I won't try.

I hope you voted yesterday.  Value your freedom, or you will lose it.

Take care,
MK