Elected officials need to address social topics if only to say, "It's none of the government's business."
Download or print from Google Documents
Recently a voter from Fairfax contacted me after browsing my website and liking a lot of what he saw. But something was missing, he said. "It's almost as if your website deliberately avoids social issues, and I'd like to know more." As a matter of fact, I deliberately set aside social topics when I built my website. I see these as personal matters, not political matters. Government has no business in personal matters and – as such – elected officials have no business legislating personal matters.
After some thought, I now realize that elected officials do need to address social topics – if only to say, "It's none of the government's business."
Marriage, reproduction, and religion are personal matters – government has no place telling us if, who, when, or where.
Personal information is to be jealously guarded and secured – unless we consciously and actively allow its sharing.
Consumerism is a market matter and at the heart of the democratic economy – government has no place telling consumers what to buy or businesses what to produce as long as consumers and businesses bear the costs and consequences of their respective consumption and production.
Liberty is the ability to govern ourselves, exhibit freewill, and take responsibility for our actions. However under the PATRIOT Act and subsequent legislation we have become less free and subject to far too much surveillance. (By the way, it's insidious that legislation can imply by its title that you're "unpatriotic" should you oppose it.) We need to restore our freedom and restrain government intrusion in our lives.
Government "of the people, by the people, for the people" must provide the services we need, and "we the people" must pay for those services. However, that price tag does not include our freedom.
