The Constitution purposely set out to limit the power and scope of the federal government because the framers knew that as the government grew in power that individual rights would be undermined. In other words, the people would be less free to pursue their dreams. We see this today in the vast control the federal government has over private businesses/enterprise through regulations. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (dreams and property ownership) was the American dream but this has now turned into a nightmare for many businesses owners and property owners.
Business owners used to be free to “reserve the right to refuse service” for various reasons. The Civil Rights Act rightly removed discrimination as a reason for refusing service and rightly so. It was a dark period of our history when fellow citizens were discriminated against because of their skin color. These laws corrected those injustices. Today, however, government has taken to managing almost every area of business life and this prevents business owners, who take all the financial risks, from achieving all they could were they not oppressed by the heavy hand of government.
How many of us remember the fight to force restaurant owners to ban smoking in their establishments. In a free enterprise society business owners should only have to answer to their customers. If they want their restaurant to succeed then they can choose whether to allow smokers or not. Then we, the consumer, can choose whether to eat at their establishments. But the anti—tobacco crowd wanted government to mandate non-smoking zones in restaurants, offices and schools. As a result local governments complied by passing no smoking ordinances.
Now I personally hate cigarette smoke and if I don’t like being in a dining room of smokers I go somewhere else. I vote with my feet and my dollars. That is how free enterprise works. I have never supported government dictating to business owners that they had to add expensive filtration systems or ban smoking altogether from their property. I am not in any way supporting this nasty and unhealthy habit but trying to make a point regarding our loss of liberty through the growth of intrusive government.
There are so many intrusions that it is impossible to keep track of them all. Even at garage sales you can get into trouble by selling certain things that don’t meet new government regulations. Often these new regulations are sold as being for the safety and good of children and families. While at the same time they refuse to regulate pornography on the internet which is hurting more children than all the other supposed risks put together. If we are responsible adults, we can make the right choices in the products that we purchase without government giving their okay.
In the process of government trying to remove risk from our lives we have become a very litigious society believing that someone else is always at fault even in accidents. We seem to forget that life is full of ups and downs, good and bad, and risk. How we handle life in general reflects our upbringing, maturity, common sense and logic. Take for instance the homosexual couple who wanted their bakery in Washington State to make their wedding cake and actually accepted her response that she couldn’t in good conscience do that. They were regular customers at her bakery so she never discriminated against them until she was asked to actively participate in their lifestyle choice. Her bakery wasn’t the only bakery around so they had other options without hindering her first amendment rights to freedom of religion. The state stepped in and sued her. It wasn’t about rights but about forcing a particular group (Christians) to totally accept something God says is sin.
Business owners should not be forced to provide or participate in actions that go against their core, moral and religious faith. They have the right to refuse and those wishing their service have the ability and right to go somewhere else. The same applies to those of us who choose not to support businesses that actively support or promote issues that go against our beliefs. As a people, it is time for us to wake up and take back the power the Constitution gives us. We, the people, allowed our elected representatives to grow this out of control government. It is now time to reclaim the power that rightly belongs to us. How do we do this? We can start by electing candidates that are firmly committed to the Constitution and truly working for us.
Next Week: The Purpose of Government
Dinner Table Discussion: Discuss ways that we can begin remind those around us that we, the people have the power to turn things around but first we must become an engaged citizen. Suggestion: start by describing rights they have that are currently under attack.