05/25/05
To the Editor:
Fundamental to democracy is the idea that each citizen has all the
resources needed to decide how to vote, to decide what policies their
government should follow and what actions their government should
take. Indeed the government is obligated to follow the instructions of its
people.
Strongly akin to this is the idea that each adult person is responsible for himself. Each person alone has the right to decide what he does with his own life and with his own body, and may do whatever he wants so long as he does not hurt anyone else. This is part of what we mean by
liberty. A country that loves liberty holds lovingly to this principle.
This tenet of liberty is being eroded in our country in many ways.
Seat belt laws tell us we must buckle up when we get into our cars. We
now have a smoking ban in bars and restaurants. We are told that these are all
for our own good. But this is exactly what we say to our children. Are we
now children, to be told how we should lead our lives? Yes we see examples
every day of people who abuse themselves, but exactly whose business is
that?.
We libertarians would rather have the police do something useful, like hunting down rapists and murders (people who have hurt other people) rather than ticketing people who don't have seat belts on. And if I, as an adult, decide that I want to have dinner in a restaurant where smoking is
permitted, why shouldn't I be able to?
If we are to maintain our liberties, we must give each other some space. If it is not hurting us, we must let the other fellow do what he wants. This is what liberty means.
Robert Hofer
Chazy, NY
