Originally Posted by
kgriffioen
We all have lines drawn in the sand where we think that Gov't has overstepped and they are all over the map. My line has a lot to do with "how does this law for me, affect someone else". Forcing me to wear a helmet does not protect anyone else in any way so therefore it is something that should not be done.
The funny thing is, Ken Lay said
exactly the same thing. A lot of people have a slightly different take: "The people I affect really aren't people anyway, so I can do this." Forcing you to wear a helmet can very much affect other people; some number of cyclists are bound to crash, and a smaller number of them to be injured. Not having enough insurance means that yet a smaller number of these are wards of the public, and everybody pays (though taxes) for their willful negligence.
If we all get to pick and choose which laws apply to us ( or only which don't because the gov't has overstepped ), then what's the point of having laws at all? You don't like the one about wearing a helmet, I don't like the one about having to stop for red lights, and lots of car drivers don't like the one about having to pass us with three feet. Each of us saying "I am quite capable of taking care of myself."
The mouse-over text for this one says: "Sometimes I'm terrified to realize how many options other people have."
PS - I don't wear a helmet most of the time, either. But I don't hold any illusions that I'm a freedom fighter for it, upholding some abstract concept of liberty against The Matrix. I'm just violating a by-law.