The right to be left alone

Are we social bees?  Social ants?

Neither.  

Unlike the bees and the ants, we are born into our human society with no predetermined roles or expectations.  We are not social bees nor are we social ants.  We're social ain'ts.  

"I ain't going to do that."

"Government ain't going to do this."

"Our society ain't going to accept any of it."

Our whole nation was built on the concept that the individual comes first, not the society.  Society, after all, can only be as strong as its weakest link.  Give the individual the equal opportunity to be the best they can be, then society will grow to the best it can be.  Start governing instead of leading and the individual will fall short of being the best they can be, and society will fall short of being the best it can be.

 The Bill of Rights and all the subsequent amendments written after the acceptance of our Constitution detail the rights of the individual, rights that the government cannot infringe upon.  A good chunk of those amendments and voluminous writings of our Founding Fathers not only make the individual the driving force of society building, but also protects the individual through a broader concept of "right to privacy."  Half the Bill of Rights, alone, enumerate specific examples of the broader concept of the right to privacy.

Let's face it.  There probably isn't a politician, judge, or lawyer out there who can unequivocally and accurately describe "right to privacy," but in 1928, one Supreme Court Judge gave it a shot.  New technology threatened one's right to privacy as the government and law enforcement began wiretapping the new telephone lines.  The reasoning in 1928 was the phone lines were public property and therefore all the chatter crossing the lines was public property and not subject to privacy protections.  

In his dissent challenging the majority opinion that telephone line chatter was public chatter and could be wiretapped, Justice Louis Brandeis, summed up the right to privacy as the right to be left alone.   From his dissenting opinion in Olmstead v. United States:

 

The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man's spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his intellect. They knew that only part of the pain, pleasure and satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred against the government, the right to be let alone—the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.

 

Oh yes, those were the days when our statespeople were educated and knew how to eloquently express themselves.  But I digress.  It's time to get on with my story.

It took us almost forty years to realize the majority's error in judgment in 1928.  In 1967, the Supreme Court overturned Olmstead with its ruling in Katz v. United States.  The Supreme Court ruled a phone wiretap required a search warrant.  The specific reasoning was grounded in the fourth amendment, but was based on the broader concept of every American's right to privacy as described by Justice Brandeis almost forty years earlier.

What this back and forth tug of war shows is we're always in battle with an intrusive government, which is ironic since we define the government as "of the people, by the people, and for the people."  But this tug of war game shows how far we have strayed from the vision the founders had for this new nation dubbed "the Great American Experiment."  Nations around the world had never seen a government the way our founders saw it and designed it to be.  The people were the strength and power of a nation.  Governments were merely an instrument to serve them.

It's time we return to our Founders' visions and prove to the world the Great American Experiment is far from dead.  It's time we embrace individualism and the right to privacy, or, as Justice Brandeis stated a hundred twenty five years ago, embrace everyone's right to be left alone.

And there's my cornerstone for my whole platform.  I'll protect your right to be left alone.  

No statespeople should be going to the store with you telling you what you can and cannot buy.

No statespeople should be in the corporate boardrooms dictating how they are to run their companies.

No statespeople should be looking over your child's shoulder telling them what they can and cannot read or be taught.

No statespeople should be sitting with you in the doctor's office making medical decisions for you and your family.  

Politicians believe they should shadow you, not only during your every waking moment, but also while you sleep.  Here are a couple of pages of regulations governing the pillow you sleep on.  You might want to tell Grandma to stop gifting her homemade pillows unless she wants the feds coming down on her.

Keep in mind these very specific regulations cost money, costs that are passed on to you, the consumer, who is only interested in getting a good night's sleep.  The manufacturer has to pay lawyers and product designers to ensure their pillows follow the letter of the law.  The government has to pay people to inspect and enforce the law.  You pay for this law through higher pillow price tags and higher taxes.

That's just pillows.  Wait until you learn the cost of rewiring your house so you can replace your gas stove with an electric one.  Or you can no longer drive your gas car because only electric vehicles are allowed on the road.  These changes are coming and will be enforceable under the penalty of law.  Politicians see to it.

Statespeople, by contrast, know why these changes might be needed and start educating the public so you and I will embrace the changes.  They start drafting legislation that rewards companies for phasing out useless and unsafe products and rewards you and me for voluntarily seeking out these safer and cleaner products.

Politicians seek to punish and penalize.  Statespeople seek to educate and lead.  This November, decide which you want, not only in the White House, but also in all levels of government - punish and penalize politicians or educate and lead statespeople.

A write in vote for One Drunk Redneck is giving the finger to establishment politicians.  Give them all the finger in November.  

Posted by One Drunk Redneck