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writing for godot

An Irresponsible Bunch

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Written by Julian Modiano   
Saturday, 11 May 2013 23:47
Most people don’t like responsibility, especially over themselves. They don’t trust themselves and their self-discipline, and want someone to force them to act how they think they should act. Now there’s obviously nothing wrong with that. The problem is that the method these people choose to place limits on their own lives is government. They want government to make laws about having to wear seatbelts, having to drive a motorcycle with a helmet, and making drugs illegal. It would be fine if government only enforced these laws on those who wanted them enforced, on those who, for some reason or other, don’t think they can make the decision of wearing a seatbelt for themselves and need someone to force them to do it (like a benevolent parent). But of course that’s not how government works. As long as 51% of the population don’t want to have responsibility for their own lives in one particular case– because they are too insecure, have too low a self-esteem, or because they are noble enough to want everyone else living just as safely as they are – the other 49% is forced to behave that way as well.

Some people think that without a law prohibiting the driving of a motorcycle without a helmet, people will drive motorcycles without a helmet and have a higher chance of dying. So there is absolutely no problem with them asking someone to make sure they do it, to force them to be safe (even if I’d like to think we would all want to grow up at some point). But they don’t stop there - they force everyone to be safe, including me, even if I might want to ride a motorcycle without a helmet knowing full well that it increases my chance of death. Now the classic answer to this is, “But more people will die if they can drive motorcycles without helmets, it’s a proven fact!” That’s indisputably true. But you know what else is 100% true? That more people will die if they can drive motorcycles, period. So what if 51% of the population decides that they don’t want to be led into temptation, they’re scared of motorcycles but don’t know if they can resist them? The other 49% of the population is suddenly not allowed to ride motorcycles!

People that want a government to make laws for every single thing hold the absurd belief that the majority knows what’s best for everyone. That 51% of the population knows what’s best for the other 49%. And not only that, but also that one standardized lifestyle is best for everyone. Everyone has to be the same. Just because 51% of the population feel that something is best for them, all of a sudden that has to be the best thing for everyone else. I’m not saying that wearing a helmet isn’t an improvement to many peoples’ lives. But I am saying that it’s not an improvement to everyone’s life. Now, no one thinks that cars should be illegal. But in the majority-knows-best system, if 51% of the people decided that cars should be illegal, they would have to defend to the death their legal right to do it. They can try persuading people to change their minds, but they cannot criticize the system. And this is, in fact, the reason why gay marriage and marijuana are still illegal. Of course, those who most love the system of majority rule, who uphold dictatorship of the majority as the single greatest achievement of mankind, are usually the ones who hate the laws against gay marriage and marijuana the most. But it is their system that allows such ridiculous laws to exist in the first place! They cannot say there is anything wrong with how the political machine is working. The majority decided that gay marriage and marijuana are ‘bad’ for society, just like not wearing seatbelts and helmets. So be it. They can shout and scream that they are wrong as much as they want, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the system. And if one day 51% of the population were to become concerned for all the atheists in the country, fearing that their immortal souls would burn in hell for all eternity, there would be nothing wrong with them making atheism illegal, and forcing everyone to repent and go to church.

Everyone thinks they know what’s best for everyone else. Most people are convinced that their own lifestyle is what is best for everyone, and that everyone should follow their example. And so they try to get laws passed that force everyone to be like them, often with excellent intentions. Unfortunately, however, no one knows what’s best for everyone. Humans are incredible because each and every one of them is different. So while some people might not know what’s best for themselves, there is a greater chance that they will know then some random government, who hasn’t exactly been elected by the smartest and most brilliant of the population. Oh, no. The government is elected by every single person, including every idiot, cheater, liar, moocher, thief, murderer, paedophile, and rapist. These form a (significant) part of those that have the power to decide what’s best for me and what’s best for you. Think of all the people you’ve met that you really didn’t like, that you had a fight with, that guy who throws trash right in front of your house at least once a week, that other ignorant bastard who yells “God hates fags” and believes the world was created in seven days by Superman. That person has a right to decide what you can and can’t do. This absurd political philosophy holds that while the majority of the country are too stupid to decide how to live their own lives in a happy, healthy way, and therefore need a government to make laws for them, the majority of the population is still smart enough to decide how everybody else should live their lives to maximize their happiness.

Every single die-hard defender of democratic rule has one major flaw: arrogance. They think that their completely subjective opinions are what’s best for everyone else, and refuse to accept that people are different. They might think that driving without a seatbelt is ridiculous because you’re more likely to die. But someone else (like me) might think that the added risk of driving without a seatbelt, if you’re a careful driver, is worth the added comfort. Or that the pleasure of feeling the wind in your hair while riding a motorcycle without a helmet is worth more than the increased risk of death. Those who think they know best don’t understand that many people like taking risks, and that they take them often. That people cross the street without looking twice just because they’re too lazy to, knowing perfectly well that it’s more dangerous that way. People know that getting completely drunk every single weekend is much more likely to lead them to get into some very risky situation, but the pleasure they experience outweighs the added risk. And that climbing up a vertical sheet of ice somewhere in Alaska is a lot more dangerous than sitting at home watching TV. People like taking risks – it’s what makes life a lot more exciting – and they should be allowed to. And it’s absurd that just because 51% of the population doesn’t want to take one particular risk then everyone else should be prohibited from doing so. Because the majority does not always ‘know what’s best’ for everyone else, they just think they do. Everybody takes risks, literally everybody, so why are some risks fine for everyone to take and others aren’t?

It’s also important to remember that there are no winners in a democratic country. We don’t have the consolation that at least 51% of the population are satisfied, at the expense of the remaining 49%. Of course not. Because since we are all so diverse, for every single issue the winning 51% will be composed of completely different people. What ends up happening is that no one is satisfied with the current state of things, because while they might be forcing someone to do something they want to do in one case, there is sure to be someone else forcing them to do something that they don’t want to do in another. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise, all you need to do is take a look around you. When was the last time you spoke to someone who was fully satisfied with the legal system, or the government, or the economy?
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