Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffery M
Freedom costs. If you eat a poor diet and the suffer diabetes and heart failure is society then going to ban certain foods? Should mountain climbing, skydiving, and swimming be banned? Should cars have governors so they can go no faster than 55 mph, thus reducing high speed crashes? Smoking is allowed and that causes far more health issues than motorcyclists not wearing helmets. People become brain damaged from doing stupid things and yet society has not collapsed from that. The percentage of the cost of healthcare has been impacted very little by motorcyclists not wearing helmets in the past and present. The rising costs are mostly from increased obesity and people living longer and suffering a varity of ailments in their older age, as well as driving like Mad Max and causing vehicle accidents. Also you are paying increased fees due to health insurance now covering pre-existing conditions, which is fine and I'm personally in favor of that, but it does impact costs. Other things have come about that are totally ridiculous that also impact the cost of healthcare, such as hormone treatment for transgender women. Medicare, the program for the elderly and disabled, lifted its ban on covering sex reassignment surgery.
Besides motorcycle helmet laws, I'm even against seat belt laws except for those under the age of 13. I would not drive without wearing a seatbelt every single time because that is the smart thing to do. Should you wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle? I believe you should. At least on the highways. However, I don't want some law telling me I have to wear a seatbelt or wear a helmet. As adults we should have that freedom of choice, and yes I am willing to be part of paying for that. Because freedom matters more than saving a few bucks on an insurance policy.
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So explain to me why there are traffic lights, speed limits, traffic control police officers? Why are there parking spaces at all? Why can't I just stop my car wherever I feel like stopping it? Why am I not "allowed" to park my car in front of a fire hydrant? My freedom is more important than your burning house. I shouldn't have to stop at a red light. In fact we should just get rid of all traffic signals.
And those one-way signs? Heresy, I say! My house is at THIS end of the street. Why should I have to drive ALLLLLLL the way around the other block just so I can enter on the other side of my street to get to my house? Don't I have the freedom of movement?
And now let's do drugs. Why can't JimmyJohn shoot up heroin in your driveway? Is it because it's your driveway? Well okay put him out on the sidewalk. That's public property, he should have the freedom to do whatever the heck he wants with his body on public property.
Next up: private property trespassing. You don't have the right to restrict my movement. It's against my freedom to move! Therefore, I have the right to hop the fence at your back yard and make myself at home. In fact, if I see a nice steak in the window on the kitchen counter, I have the right to eat. And you have food. So I'll just break in and take it. If you don't like that, then next time leave your back door unlocked.
See how stupid these examples are? We can go down the slippery slope into absurdity any time you want.
But there are checks and balances to things - they're called laws, rules, regulations, consequences.
If you do something that has an effect on society, then society has the FREEDOM to ensure that what you're doing will have minimal negative impact. And you have the FREEDOM to a) not do that thing at all, b) comply with the rules, c) accept the consequences if you get caught not complying, or d) live somewhere else that doesn't have those rules.