The
Rational Argumentator
Insist on Being Treated Like an Adult:
Support Ron Paul
What separates an adult from a child? It seems an elementary question, yet few have pondered it in depth or developed a coherent response. But, no matter your age, your future depends on the answer.
So why is
it that adults are treated differently from children? Why does virtually nobody
have a problem with children being partially restricted in where they may go,
what they may do, and how they may live their lives? The only possible
justification for such restrictions – when they come from parents – is that
children do not yet fully know their best interests, while more knowledgeable
people close to them – such as their parents – often do. But to the extent that
children are able to know what is best
for them, they should be and are permitted to use their own judgment in making
their own decisions. For instance, parents might pick what their three-year-old
child wears, but everyone agrees that a fifteen-year-old should be permitted to
pick his own outfits.
When a
person becomes an adult, the assumptions about his ability to know his own best
interests change. An adult is no longer subject to parental control, because he
has learned enough to competently plan his own life and make his own decisions.
Adults make mistakes, too, but they are recognized to be sufficiently mature
and knowledgeable to take full responsibility for their mistakes and to address
the consequences.
Oddly
enough, however, our government insists on treating grown adults of all ages
like children. Using a vast network of regulations, the government restricts
the choices adults can make in their economic and personal lives. In effect,
the current gargantuan state seeks to assume the role of parent over all of us.
In this respect, the designations of a “paternalistic state” and a “Nanny
state” describe the lamentable status quo with tremendous accuracy. However,
there is one crucial difference. Real parents actually love their children and impose the kinds of restrictions that they
genuinely believe to be in their children’s best interest. Government officials most often only seek
their own empowerment and that of their friends, and the regulations they
impose on the rest of us – while they amount to paternalistic restrictions on freedom
– do not have any shred of concern for our well-being as a motivating factor.
In essence,
government regulators seek to exert parental power over all adult citizens without having any parental love for them.
Ron Paul is
different. He believes that, as adults, you should be treated like adults. You
should have full responsibility for running your own lives – without the
intrusive presence of government placing obstacles in your way. If you make
mistakes – even big mistakes like using unhealthy drugs or engaging in
prostitution – this may be regrettable, but you are an adult and your
responsibility to deal with the consequences needs to be acknowledged. No big
omnipresent parental figure should step in to remedy anybody’s errors in
leading his own life – provided that he hurts nobody else in the process. The
only restrictions that should be placed on adults are restrictions on violating
the rights of other individuals.
This TRA feature has been edited in accordance with TRA’s Statement of Policy.
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Learn about Mr. Stolyarov's novel, Eden against the Colossus, here.Read Mr. Stolyarov's new comprehensive treatise, A Rational Cosmology, explicating such terms as the universe, matter, space, time, sound, light, life, consciousness, and volition, here.