THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW

Almost 100% of the time a "problem" is perceived in our country, that familiar and predictable call can be heard throughout the land: "There oughta be a law to take care of that." A law to restrict people from doing this, or a law forcing them to do that. You would think with all the laws we have adopted in the past 230 odd years, there would be no "problems" left, but 'taint the case.

I put the word "problem" in quotes because if we are going to pass laws based on the existence of one of them, it behooves us to know what them are. To most people I've ever heard, apparently, a problem exists when the world isn't functioning the way they would like it to function. Some people can't afford health care? Problem. Gas prices too high? Problem. People preferring foreign to American goods? Problem. With that subjective definition in tow, there will never be an end to perceived problems since human life is far too broad and complex for it ever to be totally working precisely the way you or I or anyone wants it to work.

But the real problem is in the identification of what is a "problem." The unique distinguishing feature of human nature is that we, and we alone, have the power to choose how to live our lives. And as long as our choices do not forcibly restrict the power of others to choose, we ought be free to do as we wish, and what happens happens. Choose to eat healthy food? Good. Choose to eat junk food? Good. The only soci0-political concern is when that freedom to choose is limited, restrained, restricted, abrogated, or threatened to be. It is then that the government should step in to assure that we each enjoy our natural power to choose. That is the government's sole responsibility. There is never a problem with the choices we make, and only a problem when we are not free to make them. It is the government that becomes the problem when it defaults on assuring us that freedom.

It is worth remembering that human life comes in only one form: the individual. People frequently think about and talk about corporations--particularly big corporations--as if they were another breed. But they arem't. They are individuals who have chosen to act in concert with other individuals in a corporate form. And whether we function as individuals or as members of a group or as a government, we remain individuals with no greater or lesser powers than we each individually have, and we should all be legally treated equally. That is the premise behind the "unalienable rights" pronounced by the Founding Fathers,

So, the next time someone is unhappy with the choices free people are making and bellows out "There oughta be a law to deal with that," tell 'em there already is such a law: the Constitution.