freedom of choice

[joannaingram84]

You hear now a days how the government and various groups are trying to change the way things should be - laws to govern what is in food, banning smoking, imposing fines for obesity, and the list goes on and on. What I would like to know what happened to having the freedom to choose for ourselves what we can and cannot do with our lives and our bodies. We have the right to eat what we like, watch what we like, listen to what we like, and have the habits that we like. The government and other various groups don't have the right to control what I do in my own private life.

[Falconer02]

I agree with you for the most part, but there are usually technical reasons for some of the things you listed. Smoking is a hazard not just for the user-- a lot of people hate the smell and being in the vicinity for a long period of time can damage someone elses lungs. Obesity, though it can be traced to genetics, is still a massive misuse of resources and unfair to all within distribution patterns. So all in all I agree with you on a basic level, but there are small technicalities that need to be addressed with certain things in order to maintain a good balance in our culture.

[pkrahmer]

I agree 100% that government and other groups are taking away our freedom of choice and they should not have that control. Freedom of choice goes hand in hand with accepting the consequences of your choice. This is something I think many people do not do. This to me is just as scary as loosing our freedom of choice.  We need to teach our children to take responsibility for their actions. I'm fairly certain government will never own their choices and lead by example.

[gaylasue]

Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness ~ isn't that what it is suppose to be about?

[jcribb16]

I agree 100% that government and other groups are taking away our freedom of choice and they should not have that control. Freedom of choice goes hand in hand with accepting the consequences of your choice. This is something I think many people do not do. This to me is just as scary as loosing our freedom of choice.  We need to teach our children to take responsibility for their actions. I'm fairly certain government will never own their choices and lead by example.

I have to wholeheartedly agree with you about this.  It seems this current administration is pushing hard to have government take over more in our lives.  I've also seen such an increase with children not taking responsibility for their actions - parents are making excuses for them, which is, in turn, leading to more behavioral problems in school, neighborhoods, etc. 

I honestly believe the government should also set the example by following our constitution and laws of the land.  One of the first things could be the current president having to prove that yes, he is a bonafide citizen of the U.S.  We teach our students that the eligibility of candidates for presidency have to meet certain criteria, yet we have one now that seems exempt from this.  What is this teaching our students?  It makes us, as teachers, seem as if we aren't teaching truth.

[Falconer02]

I honestly believe the government should also set the example by following our constitution and laws of the land.  One of the first things could be the current president having to prove that yes, he is a bonafide citizen of the U.S.  We teach our students that the eligibility of candidates for presidency have to meet certain criteria, yet we have one now that seems exempt from this.  What is this teaching our students?  It makes us, as teachers, seem as if we aren't teaching truth.

Try not to step in the bs-

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_citizen.htm

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_birth_certificate.htm

[jcribb16]

I honestly believe the government should also set the example by following our constitution and laws of the land.  One of the first things could be the current president having to prove that yes, he is a bonafide citizen of the U.S.  We teach our students that the eligibility of candidates for presidency have to meet certain criteria, yet we have one now that seems exempt from this.  What is this teaching our students?  It makes us, as teachers, seem as if we aren't teaching truth.

Try not to step in the bs-

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_citizen.htm

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_birth_certificate.htm

There are other questions as well regarding his birth certificate:

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Obama-birth-certificate-Matthews/2010/12/29/id/381362

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=254401

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=283713

[DarkMistress]

Freedom of choice should be just that... FREEDOM OF CHOICE. Regardless of what it is, we should or are SUPPOSED to have the RIGHT to choose. It starts small... today it is things like smoking, abortion, and etc... so what about 10, 50 or 100 year from now? Are we going to end up like those science fiction movies about the future? You know like the ones where everyone on the planet has a bar code embedded in their arms, and are tracked everywhere they go, what they do and etc...? Are we going to end up in a society were even swearing is illegal? Are we going to become a race of beings that can not go anywhere, or do anything without every moment of it being captured on camera, or caught by tons of "drones" floating in the sky watching us? Are we going to have a future where we are implanted with a chip to prevent reproduction, until the day we are married, then get the chop removed by the government, ONLY to be allowed to have 1 child because they deem that is all the married couple can have?

Seriously I know some of this sounds out there, and stupid... BUT think about it like this... what about not so many years ago when people walked freely smoking a cigarette, you saw them in almost every movie, it was accepted, and even doctors said they were not harmful... ok so back then wouldn't you think people if they were told one day in the future it would be illegal to smoke in public place? Wouldn't they laugh at you, and think THAT idea was science fiction? Just think about other freedoms we have had in the past, and do not have now. So if they keep taking our freedoms, little by little, in the end where are we left? When the little things become big things? Where does it stop? The answer is unless people realize what is happening, and do something TO stop our freedoms from being taken away... it will NOT stop, and one day in the not so distant future, even me writing this topic, in this forum, could be illegal.

[footemama]

If people WOULD control what they do in their private life, there'd be no opening for the government to step in. 

I completely agree with this!!

As for the smoking, if it was just harming the user then I would say go for it; however, smoking has long-ranging consequences for both the user and everyone else in proximity. What's the saying....your right to hit me stops at the tip of my nose. I have no problem with smoking as long as I don't have to breathe it in or walk my toddler through a carcinogenic cloud to get into the grocery store. 

[ULuvCeCe]

If people WOULD control what they do in their private life, there'd be no opening for the government to step in. 

Exactly.

I understand what people are saying but if our government didn't step in and say hey you need to be 16 to drive and take driving lessons or hey you can't drink in drive then there would be a ton of people dead. Or in CO you can't smoke in restaurants or bars anymore and have to be like 15 feet away from the entrance, they imposed this to help with the second hand smoking epidemic. Those were freedoms, that are now regulated. You'll either get people who complain we don't have enough laws or people who complain we have too many.

One situation I look at is people complain I'm so fat, diets don't work, I need lipo surgery well maybe if there was a higher tax on candy and pop people would opt for trail mix, granola, water, juice etc and be healthier. But alas it'd probably just be like people who smoke and chew, they have killer tax on it but people still do it.

[jaymz462]

I honestly believe the government should also set the example by following our constitution and laws of the land.  One of the first things could be the current president having to prove that yes, he is a bonafide citizen of the U.S.  We teach our students that the eligibility of candidates for presidency have to meet certain criteria, yet we have one now that seems exempt from this.  What is this teaching our students?  It makes us, as teachers, seem as if we aren't teaching truth.

Try not to step in the bs-

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_citizen.htm

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_birth_certificate.htm

There are other questions as well regarding his birth certificate:

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Obama-birth-certificate-Matthews/2010/12/29/id/381362

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=254401

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=283713

Newsmax and World Net Daily.  Paragons of journalism, to be sure 

[Falconer02]

Newsmax and World Net Daily.  Paragons of journalism, to be sure 

Ugh...yeah. Exactly.

[teflonfanatic]

I agree 100% that government and other groups are taking away our freedom of choice and they should not have that control. Freedom of choice goes hand in hand with accepting the consequences of your choice. This is something I think many people do not do. This to me is just as scary as loosing our freedom of choice.  We need to teach our children to take responsibility for their actions. I'm fairly certain government will never own their choices and lead by example.

I'm glad you, Falconor and the starter of this thread is starting to wake up.

[Falconer02]

I'm glad you, Falconor and the starter of this thread is starting to wake up.

To..?

[jcribb16]

To Falconer and jaymz:
Yet if I had put some Fox videos on, you would have said the same thing.