Issue 3.15
The founders of our nation created a type of government that was designed specifically to protect and defend our individual and collective unalienable (granted by God) and civil (granted by government) rights. Many of our rights qualify on both counts but, because some are considered civil rights, government bureaucracies often think those rights are susceptible to limitation or even revocation based upon decisions by legislators or bureaucrats. This is an area where we, as the citizens who are the basis and power behind government, need to pay attention and cause those who think this way to change their thinking by holding them accountable.
The framework of thought that can help each citizen know when a government or government official is overstepping their bounds, is to cast the body of government as if it were another person under the control of the laws we are all bound by. We, as citizens, can give to government certain responsibilities and opportunities just as we could give another person those things. We do that by vote of the majority or the representatives of the people making that decision. What we can not do, is give government the right to do things we ourselves have no right to do. You can not delegate any power to another entity which you do not possess.
For example, you have the right to help out your neighbor if they need money or food, etc. You can create the opportunity to help other neighbors by granting that right to government and giving them the money or food to distribute it if that is what you and your fellow voters want to do. You do NOT have the right to take money from your neighbors forcibly and give it to your needy neighbor. Thus, you cannot grant that right to government. It is called stealing when you do it. And stealing is morally wrong. This is why requiring people to buy healthcare that they would not use is a usurpation of individual rights. Just because government decides it can do it does not make it morally right.
There is grey area here in some cases because of our modern technology and interdependence. For example, we all benefit from having paved roads, police and fire protection, public parks and trails, sewer and water treatment plants and other amenities. Should governments be able to mandate that you pay for these facilities and opportunities? Should you be able to opt out if you choose not to use them? Those are questions that should be debated by our representatives and we generally choose to abide by their decisions. However, to preserve freedom, we must insist that our representatives understand and abide by the concepts laid down by our founders. Government is to be of the people, by the people and for the people. Anything more or less than this is tyranny and we should not stand for it. In the healthcare option we mentioned, not everyone chooses to use the types of healthcare provided by the government-approved insurance policies. Having to pay for insurance we don’t use is like requiring someone who can’t or doesn’t ever drive to have auto insurance. When we allow our representatives and government employees or bureaucrats to overstep those boundaries and infringe on our personal rights, we lose freedom. This is a basic principle. Governments that choose to violate those rights, even when it is unintentional, must be corrected and those in the government who do so reprimanded, fired or voted out of office. Otherwise we are guilty of destroying our own freedoms or allowing others to destroy them for us.
Lynn West is a thinker, a teacher and a patriot. You can reach him through email at forgingthefuture2021@gmail.com or through this newspaper. Liberty is a state of being which must be continually created. These articles can help all of us discover the ways we can contribute to that outcome.