Quote:
Originally Posted by pointedstick
As much as it pains me, I have to admit that I generally agree with kcbrown. We are indeed winning with RKBA, and that's amazing. But RKBA is one small part of liberty, and today it very much seems like we're losing everywhere else.
I mean, more professions than ever before are subject to discretionarily-issued licenses to operate. You can't build a house on your own property without getting permission and following arcane codes laid down in thousand-page tomes. The police can invade your home and shoot your family members in the dead of night with no liability, while if you mistake them for criminals and fire back you will be prosecuted for murder. At every level of government, regulatory codes criminalize the most insignificant behaviors. Every government form requires your social security number and home address. Sales and income taxes are higher than they've ever been for those who aren't rich. Ever read your city or county codes? You're probably a criminal already six ways to sunday. I discovered that watering your car with a hose is a misdemeanor where I live.
Like him, I would love to be wrong. But I just don't see it right now. Society has changed for the better in many ways, and technology makes things possible today that would have been unthinkable yesterday, but in terms of what you can be fined or thrown in prison for doing, that list has ballooned beyond all recognition.
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QFT.
This basically sums up my feelings about how we live today. It's why a big part of me wants to live in unincorporated land miles away from cities. Even then much of this cannot be escaped. It bothers me how little we can actually do with our land, our homes, and even inside our homes without being scrutinized or criminalized.
We have become a society of p***ified, scared little runts who seek permission from mommy government for every little thing, and scurry to the nanny state to take care of minor inconveniences by enacting laws.
I don't know how it has gotten this bad, and thankfully we aren't as bad as the UK yet, but we've gotten to the point where people think it's acceptable to need a permit or permission for every small thing in life. They think it's ok that we have no privacy anymore. They think it's ok that more and more crimes are becoming felonies, and more and more seemingly harmless things are becoming misdemeanors. Somehow it's ok that government employees have more "rights" than commoners.
I see RKBA as a beacon through the fog -- a shining example of people striving to counteract this lack of fortitude and personal responsibility. It puts a smile on my face when I know people all across the country take on the personal challenge and responsibility to safely carry a weapon for their protection, and frankly, for the protection of others by proxy.