Eric, Do you seek and demand control? cover art

Eric, Do you seek and demand control?

Eric, Do you seek and demand control?

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At What Point Does Protection Become Control? How is one able to be responsible of he is not able to judge and choose?It would be shortsighted to demand that every person do everything in exactly the same way, under every circumstance, simply because a rule says so.Blind obedience does not create responsibility.It does not create judgment.It does not create maturity.And it certainly does not create life.A responsible person understands circumstances, consequences, necessity, and the effect of his actions on others. A society that demands mechanical obedience to every command risks replacing personal responsibility with conditioned compliance.Imagine a ten-year-old boy watching his mother collapse from a heart attack.There is nobody else around.He knows where the hospital is. He grabs the keys, puts his mother in the car, and drives.He doesn’t have a license. Of course he doesn’t. He’s ten.He reaches a red light. There is no traffic. He drives through it.He reaches a stop sign. He doesn’t stop.He is breaking the rules.Now imagine a police officer sees him and pulls him over.But the boy isn’t joyriding.His mother is dying.The officer follows procedure. The boy is removed from the driver’s seat. An ambulance is called. Precious minutes are lost.And his mother dies.Now ask yourself:What was the purpose of the law?Was the driver’s-license requirement created to prevent a child from saving his mother’s life?Was that red light created so that an empty intersection would become more important than a dying woman?Of course not.Those laws exist because driving creates risks to other people.But something happens when we stop examining why a rule exists and begin treating obedience to the rule as the objective itself.The rule becomes the end.Now consider an elderly man living in the same house he has occupied for fifty years.The paint is peeling. The roof needs repair. The yard is overgrown. Parts of the house aren’t up to today’s code.He doesn’t have the money to fix everything.But the house is paid for.It’s his home.He knows every room. His children grew up there. His wife lived there. Maybe she died there.And he wants to remain there.The city sees something different.Violations.Repair this.Replace that.Bring this up to code.Then come fines. Contractors. Liens.Eventually the government may correct the conditions and demand reimbursement.The owner cannot pay.He is forced to sell the home he spent his life acquiring.The government can say:We’re protecting him.But the man who had an imperfect home now has no home.So ask the question:At what point did protection become destruction?This isn’t an argument for abolishing building codes.It isn’t an argument for children routinely driving automobiles.And it isn’t an argument for removing stop signs.It is an argument for something much more fundamental:Judgment.A stop sign serves a purpose.It tells motorists to stop because an intersection presents a potential danger.Now imagine a driver approaches that stop sign at one mile per hour.He looks left.Nobody.He looks right.Nobody.He rolls through at walking speed.A police officer sees him.Lights come on.Ticket.Technically, the driver violated the rule.But what exactly has government accomplished?Was someone injured?Was someone endangered?Was property damaged?Was another person’s liberty invaded?If the conduct created an actual danger, address the danger.But if it didn’t, we should at least be willing to ask:What governmental objective is being served by punishment?Because there is a profound difference between maintaining order and demanding obedience for obedience’s sake.And that brings us directly to the Liberty Dialogues.The Liberty Dialogues do not say there should be no government.They do not say every regulation is illegitimate.They ask:What is the purpose of government power, and where does that power end?LD asks:Under what authority, through what process, and subject to what limits?Those questions do not create anarchy.They distinguish government under law from government by command.And yes, freedom carries responsibility.Freedom does not mean I can burn my house and allow the fire to consume yours.It doesn’t mean I can drive recklessly through an intersection and endanger your children.My property rights don’t permit me to poison your water or destroy your property.But responsibility works both ways.Government possesses the power to command, prohibit, fine, seize, condemn, license, inspect, and punish.Therefore, government has the responsibility to justify the exercise of those powers.Not simply:“Because that’s the rule.”Not:“Because that’s our policy.”Not:“Because everyone has to comply.”Those statements demand obedience.They do not establish justice.A free society must leave room for circumstance.For necessity.For proportionality.For discretion.For due process.And for the possibility that a human being can technically violate a rule without doing something ...
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