When do you think the government will stop protecting people from themselves?

Question

Just curious why the government tries to keep people from doing anything that may hurt themselves and not others. For example tobacco regulations, seat belts, trans fat, and other such things. If people want to be fat and unhealthy I say more power to them. Whats your opinion?

I am all about child safety don't get me wrong, I am talking more in regards to adult. While I will agree that a majority of these laws are in affect to protect children. I suppose my main issue is that if adults aren't smart enough to protect themselves then its natural selection and they shouldnt be around as is.

Answer 1

I think people fail to realize that most of these actions actually do hurt others, not only themselves. When people become sick or injured, their employeers lose money and worktime, their families are put under duress, the hospitals and social organizations become overcrowded with people requiring aide, and our tax dollars are wasted helping people who refuse to help themselves.

Everything that we do has an effect on those people around us. It may not seem like a big deal that one person, you, is hurting yourself, but if you expand your view and realize hundreds of thousands of people are also hurting themselves, the waves are quite large.

Answer 2

Have you noticed that most everything you have mentioned is directly related to children? Child endangerment is very real, and it is a sad reality that so many people simply do not use standard logic when it comes to child safety. If I had my way, children who were fed and fed until they were just round and unhealthy, would have their parent/parents HAVING to go through nutrition classes, with a follow up! As far as seat belts, the old days show us that people did NOT take proper safety measures for children. I know of one mother who used to have her son (age 5) sit on the FRONT of her car, when she drove in fog, so he could tell her what was ahead! I think that we have ALL seen direct cause and effect of seatbelts, even for adults. So many people died, in the past, who did not think they needed a seat belt on. Their deaths, many of them, would never have happened, had the law been in effect. Tobacco regs, to me, have children in mind. I do not want to see young children smoking. The only way to make it harder for them to GET the cigarettes, is to make a law against them buying them. I don't really believe anyone wants to be really, really fat..............and I know no one chooses to be unhealthy. Most people believe they will not get unhealthy by eating too much, with no exercise.............that they would never be in an accident that would call for seat belt safety laws. The laws our government has passed have been 'asked for' by the people. I know that it can sound as if the govt is telling us what to do, to eat, to behave.............but, the things you mentioned have all been laws that were passed, because enough people WANTED these laws passed. I'm for all the safety we can GET for children, especially. Before seat belts were a big thing, I had made MY OWN seat belt 'type' things for my children (born in the 60's)............I went to a fabric store, bought belt material that had some stretch to it...........made it so it was stationary in the back seat..........and sewed a buckle onto it, that could be made to 'fit' the children in my back seat. Everyone thought I was 'over protecting' or something like that. Now, I feel, as I did at the time..............that child protection is necessary at all times. To be honest, I AM hung up on the fact that children who are allowed to become morbidly obese (not due to a health problem), should be covered under the 'child endangerment' laws. Parents should be held accountable for causing children to become diabetic from this, for losing their childhood, basically, as well. When was the last time you saw the really, really overweight child picked first for anything? Emotional and medical abuse is what I call it.

Answer 3

The government knew at least twenty years probably fifty years ago that tobacco causes fatalities. We do not have a seatbelt law for our own good it is the good of insurance companies that do not want to pay for injuries. Trans fat must really conflict with nutrition for anything to be done about it. The government does not care to protect people they are interested in controlling people