Just Leave Us Alone

“There are those who just want to be left alone, and those who just won’t leave them alone.  Which on are you?”

This is one of my favorite quotes – it happens to be from Ernest Hancock of “Declare Your Independence.”

Everything really does boil down to this quote.  Liberty means being free to do whatever you want as long as you are not infringing on other people’s rights.  This is the “just want to be left alone” person.  And if you infringe on another’s rights, you’re one of those who just won’t leave others alone.  It doesn’t matter if you have good intentions and want to pass laws or regulations “for their own good.” 

Natural laws are an oxymoron: we don’t need to write down on paper “it is against the law to kill an innocent person.”  These laws are ingrained our brains so much that only those who are psychologically deficient (i.e. “screwed up in the head”) don’t understand these laws.  So although we can write these laws down to confirm “yeah you can’t hurt others and get away with it” the laws really aren’t necessary to write down. 

If you advocate for any other laws or regulations, however, you are one who of those who “just won’t leave them alone.”  If it doesn’t hurt you, why bother them?  If I suggest we pass a law that says “purple poka-dot shirts are ugly and therefore banned” most would say I’m crazy.  But why?  Well it’s obvious: I have NO RIGHT to tell others what they can wear.  I can make fun of them all I want or tell people what I think of their clothes (neither of which I would ever do, by the way).  But I have no right to forbid someone else from wearing purple poka-dotted shirts.  Freedom means sometimes I have to deal with others around me wearing something I don’t like.

It is important to emphasize what I mention in the podcast as well: being “left alone” doesn’t mean becoming a hermit.  If you say to yourself “I hate this quote because it says I either need government or have to be a hermit” then you’re missing the point.  Being “left alone” is in regard to government laws/regulations.  in other words, you’re telling the government “unless I’m hurting someone else and you have probable cause to restrict my rights, just leave me alone!” 

Too often, though, people hear “leave me alone” as a call to become a hermit.  That couldn’t be furthest from the truth.  It’s not a means to become a hermit but rather to be free to interact with others however you want (socialize, conduct trade, etc) without having a “permission slip” from government.  As long as we are “leaving others alone” (i.e. not harming them and interacting in a consensual manner) then government should leave us alone.

As I state at the end of the recording: true freedom and government are opposites and therefore cannot get along.  If the people in mass decide they want to be “just left alone” then government will decrease substantially and edge towards non-existence.  Government, on the other hand, wants to continually expand and get bigger.  It’s what it does.  It’s what it has to do in order to spread the belief of its importance.  Just like a business it has to continue to grow in size and importance or it is bound to head for inconsequentialism.