Over at Fox:
Supreme Court upholds ObamaCare and Americans have lost the right to be left alone
Regardless of what I wrote here concerning the Commerce Clause (it is now longer unlimited) and that Federalism has been strengthened (roping in Federal coercion of the States by ransoming monies that came from the States in exchange for meeting certain mandates), the above hit home – hard. When I heard that inactivity cannot be regulated via the Commerce Clause, I went YES! When I heard no more coercion by the Feds, I went YES! And then what Roberts said about taxation and individual choice, my heart dropped. The headline had it right – they just won’t leave me alone.
One of my regular Internet Doodlings come from TreeHugger. It’s a great site for a Conservative to visit (as loyal ‘Grok commenter C. dog e. dog now frequents those haunts, howling at the entrenched denizens, has learned). They now combine an absolute faith that there is a future of “no future” for any of us unless their Green vision is realized in how we all should live in their Utopia of a pre-modern civilization / Gaia dystopia of a low energy world (and a low level of life to boot). There is that loud stream of “all in for one vision” and we all should have no choice in it. “You cannot live your life your way because if we let you, the planet will die.” Thus, they will do and support anything that will force the rest of us to change our behavior – for them, keeping the planet alive trumps the Rights and philosophy of the Constitution. They will not stop until we live the way they want and as you have seen with some of my recent posts (here and here), they are on the march to make that happen, forcibly if necessary.
From the political side, Obama and his fellow Progressives are also convinced they can create a Utopia here on Earth – and as Obama has said:
“my individual salvation is not going to come about without a collective salvation for the country.”
Translation:
…I am saved if and only if I can save EVERYONE. Thus,you will participate – whether you like it or not. Salvation can only happen if everyone either gets involved voluntarily or forced to participate. That state of being, where everyone is absorbed. is the end game of Progressives under an unelected, unaccountable Administrative State that is essentially the Founders vision inverted; instead of citizens having a government, Progressives would have wards of their State. In their Utopia, we as individuals will not have the chance to be left alone as Progressives will force a collectivist society upon us – as demonstrated by Obamacare. If it is good for some, it has to be good for all – and you will be part of that “all”. We’ve seen this State behavior before in the former Communist societies – but even those failures are no barrier to try to do it again.
As the Fox post states:
Today marks a sad day in the history of America. With this decision, Americans have lost the right to be left alone, which Justice William O. Douglas once called “the beginning of all freedom.”
Roberts left the door open for this in his decision by leaving the option open that even a choice to do nothing can be taxed. Thus, no longer deciding that doing nothing is right for me, I may well have to pay a penalty as Government has decided that I MUST do something. It is obvious that Roberts believes that it is that specter of taxation that will keep our Liberty solid (or, as I said, there is more that might be coming in the long term “dead end canyon” that is unknown and unsprung, but I can only speak on what is in the decision now). But is that sufficient from a philosophy of limited government? Does that promote such an outlook? Given how far we have strayed from the original intent, there are those (i.e., the Congressional members of the Democrat Socialists of America) for whom higher taxes is an extremely low bar to step over (as in “yeah, higher taxes? No biggie”).
I just want to be left alone. I want to be left alone make my own decisions voluntarily. To many at TreeHugger, and with the Statists and Collectivists, that is heresy and selfish. How DARE you not belong to the collective – after we have done SO much for you! I want to buy the goods and services that suit me – and not be forced to pick from those that have been judged “allowable” by the elites in power. And if I want to do nothing, I should be able to choose “nothing” as a valid choice.
Sigh…the problem with both environmentalists and Progressives don’t seem to understand this concept; they believe that only they have the “correct” answers for everything in life and take it personally when others disagree with that vision.
So what if I don’t want to participate in healthcare – leave me alone. So what if I like guns; stop trying to take them away from me just because YOU don’t like them – just leave me alone. So what if I don’t want to live in a village / town / city center and I don’t want to live within walking distance of work and shopping – just leave me alone. If I want to drive a bigger car or truck and I can afford it – stop taking choices away from me and leave me alone. Just because you believe that only Government can solve problems and individual can’t – don’t force me to pay taxes by calling it charity – just leave me alone. So what if I don’t want to live a healthier lifestyle and not exercise and eat arugula – just leave me alone.
Trust me – I hate the idea of your “collective salvation” and I hate being forced into participating I don’t believe in.
Why is just leaving me alone such a threat to your Utopia?
