Damn, I Wish I’d Written That

Dave at Pervasive Light links to this piece by Jonathan David Morris concerning the link between the recent Lester Campbell and Stratford High School incidents. Money quotes:

Stories like those of Mr. Campbell and Stratford High don’t happen in a vacuum. There’s a very real pattern here. There are forces at work in this country trying to “protect” us from things. If it’s not guns, it’s drugs. If it’s not drugs, it’s bad choices. But whatever it is, it always ends up costing us a fortune.

Our better welfare is a billion-dollar industry. From concealed carry statutes straight on down to seatbelt and helmet laws, we’re consistently told our welfare depends on new rules, police powers, and legal settlements. We buy into this bait-and-switch every time. Which is great if you’re a congressman — since you can vote yourself a pay raise, collect a nice pension, and gerrymander your way to absolute power — but not if you’re anyone else.

When politicians try to protect us from ourselves, they often only protect themselves from us. That’s a problem.

Read the whole thing.

I wish I’d written it.