Limiting liberty never good for people

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for July 10, 2019)

There are few things I enjoy more than helping people.

In the past few months, I've opened a car for a neighbor who locked her keys inside it. Twice. I gave a military-style can opener I was carrying to a guy who was unsuccessfully trying to buy a can opener.

I hold doors for people, I hand them items they drop, and do my best to help whenever I see the opportunity.

I just put in a two-week stint helping my family with a fireworks stand. It was like one of those harsh character-building programs, except it didn't cost anything. There was even the potential to make some money, although that didn't pan out.

Still, I was helpful to those who needed me when they needed me.

The thing is, helping people makes me happy. It's good for the person I help and it's good for me. It bothers me when I miss an opportunity to help because I'm distracted or self-absorbed. I want to pay attention to people's needs and do what I can.

I like people and I like helping. It's why I promote liberty and responsibility. Nothing helps people more in the long run than helping them realize the benefits of embracing liberty; recognizing their freedom to do everything they have a right to do, even if they don't choose to exercise it all. Limiting liberty is never good for people. Even if liberty scares someone, it's the fear which is harmful, not the liberty.

If I didn't like people very much I would convince them their rights come from government and can be limited or lost. I would tell them the Bill of Rights gives them rights, not the truth that it only applies to government by making it a serious crime for government to violate-- in the tiniest way-- any of the enumerated rights plus all unlisted rights which are placed off-limits by the Ninth Amendment. 

I would use collectivist phrases like "our government" and "our president", and dishonest terms like "your taxes".

I would want people to be dependent on government and its handouts.

If I didn't like people very much, I would celebrate laws and those who enforce them.

If you ever see this change in me you'll know I've stopped liking people. I've stopped wanting the best for them and would rather see them suffer. Be afraid!

Otherwise, I'll keep helping however I can, whenever I see the opportunity.

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