liberty | Ain't Complicated

I suppose back in the good old days, if I could buy a Model T, I could drive it.

Then the liberties began to be chipped away.

Licenses — We must have them in order to legally drive a motor vehicle.
Registration — Our motor vehicles must be registered with (and license plated by) the state.
Speed Limits — Do bicyclists and joggers have speed limits?
Fueling Up — In Oregon we’re not free to pump gasoline into our own vehicles.
Insurance — first, optional; then, liability mandatory.
Seat Belts — first, optional use; then, mandatory use
DEQ Tests — first, in metro areas; then, further and further out into the country
Fueling up II — As of July 1, topping off you fuel tank is illegal as well.
Cellphone Use — after the first of next year, I won’t be able to drive and talk on a hand-held device in Oregon. (That’s already the case in Washington and elsewhere.) I guess that will make it easier to shave, hold a cup of coffee, and drive.

I could give more examples, but I’ll ask some questions instead:

When will we have to start wearing helmets?
When will our passengers have to be quiet?
When will single-person (ie, driver-only) vehicles be mandated?
When will we not be allowed to listen to radios and other acoustic devices?

Oh well. I could just go back to walking.

I’ll just have to be careful to stay in my lane while crossing the street. 😯

The online version of a popular board game from many Americans’ childhood includes an option for players to choose homosexual marriage and child-rearing as a way of life.

Through the Shockwave.com website, even children can download and play a free trial version of The Game of Life, the first game ever created by Mr. Milton Bradley in 1860.

The player’s first option in the online version is to choose a persona based on pictures that clearly depict men and women. Shortly thereafter, the game invites players to choose a spouse, regardless of the potential spouse’s sex.

So that’s life.

But do they also create the option for skipping marriage altogether and just shacking up with your “significant other” (I despise that expression!)?

And the option to divorce?

Or have an abortion?

For the record, the board version of the game also allows taking a same-sex spouse.

So…add another point to freedom’s score. 🙄

And speaking of freedom….

Freedom in the 50 States

Index of Personal and Economic Freedom

This paper presents the first-ever comprehensive ranking of the American states on their public policies affecting individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. We develop and justify our ratings and aggregation procedure on explicitly normative criteria, defining individual freedom as the ability to dispose of one’s own life, liberty, and justly acquired property however one sees fit, so long as one does not coercively infringe on other individuals’ ability to do the same.

[…]

We find that the freest states in the country are New Hampshire, Colorado, and South Dakota, which together achieve a virtual tie for first place. All three states feature low taxes and government spending and middling levels of regulation and paternalism. New York is the least free by a considerable margin, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, California and Maryland. On personal freedom alone, Alaska is the clear winner, while Maryland brings up the rear. As for freedom in the different regions of the country, the Mountain and West North Central regions are the freest overall while the Middle Atlantic lags far behind on both economic and personal freedom.

As I recall, Oregon ranks #27 overall.

For perspective, I expect many people in the world would say we don’t have anything to fuss about regarding freedom here in the States. Even if they would have to live in New York or Maryland.

My Car, My Castle?

Life and Freedom Today