Posted by
Gray Cat on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 12:15:07 AM
Drivers in the state of Wisconsin are now legally responsible for making sure all passengers in their vehicle wear their seat belts. Not just children - adults as well.
I'm sure many think this is a great idea because it will save lives.
I just wonder why we stopped at seat belts. After all, these proposals would also save lives and are philosophically no different than the seat belt law:
* Require the driver to ask all passengers if they have eaten a well-balanced meal for breakfast. If not, the driver is required to proceed directly to the nearest health food store and purchase tofu smoothies for all on board.
* Require the driver to measure the body-mass index of all passengers before departing. If any are determined to be obese, they must walk or bike to their destination.
* Ask all passengers if they smoke - not just on the current trip, but at all. If any do, the driver must recite the surgeon general's warning and cannot depart until all passengers promise to quit immediately.
Those would all be great ideas as well, right? After all, they would save lives...
At some point we have to let adults be adults and make their own decisions. Everyone and their brother knows seat belts save lives. It should not be up to one adult to force other adults riding with them to make "acceptable" lifestyle choices, whether that be wearing seat belts or anything else.
The thing that is really troubling about this is that it's part of a trend - we're more and more willing to trade freedom for safety, not just from outside sources but from ourselves. It's almost as if we are saying to the government: "We now realize we are just too stupid to manage our own lives. Please be our parents! Tell us how to live, provide for us, care for us, and protect us."
I actually wonder if the breakdown of family is partly responsible. Are people so desperate for a good, parental role model they turn to government to play that part?
We need to draw a line in the sand and define governement's role as protection from outside threats - whether those be terrorism, street gangs, or toxic chemicals in our water, I'm fine with all of that being governement's job. The moment we ask government to protect us from our own decision-making is the moment we cease to be free-thinking adults and relegate ourselves to the role of children.
The problem is there is no consistency in what we expect from governement and how we allow it to regulate our lives. There is no underlying philosophy. We'll accept almost any law; we just need to be talked into it.
Here's what I'd like to see, and I'm fully aware that this will never happen: A consitutional amendment that Congress shall pass no law whose sole purpose is to ban behavior that (a) directly affects only the individual that actively decides to partake in it, and (b) entails fully known and understood risks and consequences.
Until then, I'm required by law to tell you: "Buckle up. And eat your vegetables. And get more exercise. And quit smoking. And watch less TV...."