re: "Above the Fray" libertarians who white knight for everything Biden...

quote:

---

You guys don’t like traffic enforcement, but if it wasn’t being done how many more would be maimed or killed by idiots who think they are Richard Petty?

You guys don’t like drug laws, but completely ignore or discount the rights of the children of drug addled/addicted parents.

---

This point is basically a conflict in ideas about what "law" is designed to do.

Is it designed to maximize freedom but punish a violation of the rights of others, with the consequence of discouraging actions which are likely to give rise to such a violation?

Or is it designed to "protect" members of society from all potential violations of their rights?

DWI laws are the perfect example of this dichotomy. A drunk driver is NOT (standing alone) violating any rights until he hits something with his car and causes personal injury or property damage. The law can either (i) punish him after he causes that damage OR (ii) protect members of the society from ever having to worry about potential injury or damage.

"Open Container" laws are even worse. "The law" had decided to "protect" by punishing people who are not yet even at any significant risk of violating the rights of any other person. Instead, "the law" punishes EVERYONE because SOME of them MIGHT drink to the point of intoxication.

In any case, if you ascribe to the second theory, the laws you mention are indeed justifiable under your ideology. But that IS a "less free" society, by any definition.

As with most things, a workable system probably lies somewhere between those two antipodes.