The Partisan Divide on Issues

[Bob Butler 54]

Over on the Generation Dynamics forum, one of John’s supposed geniuses proclaimed that he was for freedom.  Blues were not,  I scratched my head a few times and came up with a religious idea that is popular with the Neo pagan crowd.  “Do what you will, but harm none.”  I proposed that in seeking a more perfect union, both parts of that phrase were important.  The government preventing freedom by requiring laws and regulations to be coerced on people can be justified justified if and only to prevent harm.  The more perfect union required that only appropriate laws are written, and those laws would be obeyed.

I gave a few examples.  Laws requiring stopping at red lights reduces freedom, but if everyone obeys the law it reduces confusion and prevents harm.  OSHA writes workplace regulations that are acceptable if they are focused to prevent harm.  Freedom for the factory owner to seek a creative way to profit is fine, so long as he does not cause harm.  This would double down if you are requiring meat packing plants to remain open in a pandemic environment without taking all due protections to protect the worker.

No insurrections?  No murdering people because their skin pigmentation is a bit different?  No preventing people from voting?  Are reds really so much into freedom?  Are they so crazy about their own freedom that they are forgetting the common good?

Anyway, with our having a libertarian over here, I thought I’d repeat the idea that laws are justified when the intent is to reduce harm.  And if anyone is of a mind that that the call of freedom can drown out the need to work together to prevent harm, that freedom justifies murder, I’d give them a chance to say so.