ForWhichItStood.org

Over the past century, the size of the government has been growing. Its totalitarian reach has been extending, just as its spending has been increasing. Many times, with the increased legislation and laws, it apparently creates more problems than it solves. It seems, as of late, that the federal government intends to continue policing morality.

This appears to be the case with just about every issue - big government getting into your business. Ron Paul does a great job explaining how personal liberty should not be regulated by the government; rather, it should be a personal choice.

Why should the government tell you what you can and can’t do with your own body, in the privacy of your own home? As long as you aren’t putting someone else in danger or infringing on the rights of others, you should be free to do whatever you want.

This is the case with scores and scores of issues. Recently, I wrote briefly on lowering the drinking age; in hindsight, this is just on the fringe of many greater issues.

For example, take a look at the use of marijuana. Why should the government continue their (failing) war on drugs? Not just marijuana, but all drugs. Marijuana, for personal use, should be legal; it’s not dangerous, does little to no harm, and could even increase federal revenue through taxation. Additionally, marijuana may have some basis for medical use.

There is also the issue of prostitution. While I’m not an advocate for prostitution and would never hire a prostitute, I strongly believe that people should have the right to do so if they desire. By forcing thing such as a military draft or prohibiting things like prostitution, the government is effectively saying that they own its citizens and not the other way around. As Ron Paul briefly mentioned in the video I linked to above, prostitution and drug use may be related; he theorizes that the government may have indirectly increased prostitution by making drugs illegal. Because drugs are illegal, they’re harder to get and they cost more, leaving many women (and sometimes men) left to resort to prostitution to fuel their drug habits.

Other issues include telling us which types of food to eat and whether or not we can smoke. While these two issues are primarily issues on a local or state level, essentially they’re the same; government telling its citizens how to live their lives (and businesses how to run their business).

I could go on and on. We also have the issue of internet censorship (and censorship in general). We need to keep the net neutral. Broadband companies and the internet should not control what the internet user has access to. Be it pornography or file sharing, it is not the duty of companies or the government to police what people do.

The government should have zero involvmenet in most of these issues. Period. Envision a future where they tell you want to do, where to go, what to eat, where to live, what carreer to have, and so on, all done, alegedly, in your best interest. We would become a society without a choice and without a voice. It sounds absurd, but this path towards tyranny is where we are headed. The federal government - or any government, for that matter, - should not police morality. They can rant, they can make their recommendations on how to be moral, but come the end of the day, it should be the burden of the individual to decide what is right or wrong.

(don’t forget to digg this!)