Okay, I get it now. Supporters of tea party candidate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky have clarified that he only opposes “victimless crimes” like riding a motorcycle without a helmet.
Uhhh Really!
How on earth can anyone believe that there will be no victims when someone is killed riding without a helmet…?
- Can they really think his or her family isn’t victimized by the rider’s untimely and unnecessary death? No hidden social security disability or other publicly funded services will be drained?
- Can they guarantee that no one else as a passenger or in other vehicles is hurt during the accident involving a reckless driver without a helmet?
- Can they guarantee that everyone who doesn’t wear a helmet is still smart enough to carry health insurance?
- And even if rider has insurance, can they can guarantee that a fatality won’t arbitrarily drive up everyone else’s health and vehicle insurance rates?
- Or if they do or don’t have insurance can it be guaranteed that absolutely no hidden public costs will be expended on emergency response, hospital emergency rooms, investigating officers, claims adjusters or clean up after the fatality?
I get it that by nature people resist being required to do something even when it is a no-brainer (pardon the expression) but this guy just made the case for both helmet laws and healthcare insurance reform.
We all value our freedom…but freedom comes with responsibilities especially when others may even remotely be forced to pick up the costs for our actions.
Wearing a stupid helmet and carrying insurance isn’t a surrender of freedom…it is doing the minimum to mitigate actions for which someone else or the public-at-large may be forced to pick up hidden costs.
No one lives in a vacuum, not ultra conservatives, not libertarians, not tea partiers, not even Republicans. No one!
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