A child leaving home alone for the first time takes a
risk. So does the entrepreneur who opens a new business. I no more want
government to prevent us from doing these things than I want it to keep us in
padded cells.
Everyone has a different tolerance for risk. One person
takes out a second mortgage to start a business. Another thinks that sounds
nerve-racking, if not insane. Neither person is wrong. Government cannot know
each person's preferences, or odds of success.
Even if it did, what right does it have to tell them what
to do?
When government gets in the business of deciding which
risks are acceptable and which aren't, nasty things happen.
This includes government's attempt to improve life by
regulating gambling and the use of medicine, banning recreational drugs and
mandating safety devices in cars.
In what sense are we free if we can't decide such things
for ourselves?
Through the Food and Drug Administration, the government
claims to protect us. But some people suffer because of that protection: Some
die waiting for drugs to be approved.
Don't we own our own bodies? Why, in a supposedly free
country, do Americans, even when dying, meekly stand aside and let the state
limit our choices?
The Drug Enforcement Administration jails pain-management
doctors who prescribe quantities of painkillers that the DEA considers
"inappropriate." It's true that some people harm themselves with
Vicodin and OxyContin, but it's hard for doctors to separate
"recreational" users from people really in pain. Some cancer patients
need large amounts of painkillers.
After the DEA jailed doctors, some pain specialists began
to underprescribe. The website of the Association of American Physicians and
Surgeons warns doctors: Don't go into pain management. "Drug agents now
set medical standards. ... There could be years of harassment and legal
fees." Today, even old people in nursing homes sometimes don't get pain
relief they need.
Even the best safety regulations have unexpected costs.
Seat belts save 15,000 lives a year, but it's possible that they kill more
people than they save.
University of Chicago economist Sam Peltzman argues that
increased safety features on cars have the ironic effect of encouraging people
to drive more recklessly. It's called the Peltzman Effect -- a variation on
what insurance experts call "moral hazard." Studies show that people
drive faster when they are snugly enclosed in seat belts.
Also, while passengers were less likely to die, there
were more accidents and more pedestrians were hit.
Perhaps the best safety device would be a spike mounted
on the steering wheel -- pointed right at the driver's chest.
There's another reason to think seat belt laws have been
counterproductive. Before government made seat belts mandatory, several
automakers offered them as options. Volvo ran ads touting seat belts, laminated
glass, padded dashboards, etc., as the sort of things that responsible parents
should want. I concede that government action expanded seat belt use faster
than would have otherwise happened, but by interfering with the market,
government also stifled innovation. That kills people.
Here's my reasoning: The first government mandate created
a standard for seat belts. That relieved auto companies of the need to compete
on seat belt safety and comfort. Drivers and passengers haven't benefitted from
improvements competitive carmakers might have made.
If every auto company were trying to invent a better
belt, today, instead of one seat belt, I bet there'd be six, and all would be
better and more comfortable than today's standard. Because they would be more
comfortable, more passengers would wear them. Over time, the free market in
seat belts would save more lives.
We don't know what good things we might have if the heavy
foot of government didn't step in to limit our options.
In a free country, it should be up to adult individuals
to make their own choices about risk. Patrick Henry didn't say, "Give me
safety, or give me death." Liberty is what America is supposed to be
about.
Let's start treating people as though their bodies belong
to them, not to a controlling and "protective" government.
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