For the most part, laws that are consistent with personal liberty are those laws that prevent one person, or the state, from encroaching on the rights to life, liberty, and property of another. Most of what constitutes America's legal structure today violates at least the liberty and property of another. Supreme Court Justice William 0. Douglas said, “The right to work, I had assumed, was the most precious liberty that a man possesses.” That opinion was also held by Justice Joseph P. Bradley, who viewed occupational freedom as an “inalienable right.” And Justice Rufus W. Peckman said, “The liberty mentioned in that Amendment [Fourteenth] means…[a person has the right] to earn his livelihood by any lawful calling; to pursue any livelihood or avocation.” That was the thinking of earlier Supreme Court justices. Looking at today's laws, one would think that the right to work is a privilege conferred by the state to particular individuals. Several columns in this section speak to that point, showing how licensing laws and minimum wage laws have deprived people of their right to work in their chosen field.
Of course, as my grandmother used to say, if you are doing something you are not supposed to be doing, you cannot do what you are supposed to do. Government should not be in the business of parceling out favors and privileges to particular Americans, but it is supposed to protect us from criminals who would murder, rape, and rob us. It is doing a poor job in that area. Twenty thousand Americans are murdered each year; many hundreds of thousands more are raped, robbed, and burglarized. Statistical crime reports give unambiguous evidence on how poor a job government is doing to protect us against societal parasites. However, there is good news: Some crimes are falling. It does not take rocket science to discover why. The nation has been building more prisons; in some states early releases, pardons, and paroles have been restricted. States like California have enacted “three strikes and you're out” legislation calling for mandatory long sentences for repeat offenders. In roughly thirty-seven states, concealed-carry laws permit law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons. According to some estimates, millions of crimes have been prevented by armed citizens simply brandishing their weapon to would-be attackers and criminals.
The high rates of crimes are merely symptomatic of widespread moral decadence in our country. Some of the decadence is represented by unprecedented rates of illegitimacy, daytime trash television shows, lack of respect for teachers, and other forms of behavior that would not have been dreamed of fifty years ago. The columns in this section discuss these and other issues.