Does the Government Own You—or Do You Own Yourself?

Politicians tax what we earn, regulate what we build, and often decide what we can do with our bodies and our money.

I like to think I own myself. But politicians increasingly act as if they do.

“People should not have power over other people’s lives,” says Timothy Sandefur, author of the book You Don’t Own Me.

In my latest video, Sandefur challenges the attitude that “freedom belongs to the government and it can parcel it out to us.”

He starts with building permits.

“A building permit really says, you’re not allowed to build on your own property until the government gives you permission. And you have to pay for that permission. The government has essentially confiscated your land and sells it back to you in exchange for more rights.”

Such government control makes it harder to build anything.

“The Empire State Building,” Sandefur reminds me, “was built in a single year. Now it’s unimaginable that you could accomplish a project like that, or even just the paperwork, within a year.”

So vast sums of money are wasted. Take high-speed rail for example. Somehow, California has spent 16 years and $14 billion without laying down a single mile of high-speed track.

“How much would Californians have done with that colossal amount of money?” Sandefur asks.

Government forced me to get vaccinated, to pay into Social Security.

If I want to buy a gun or get a hunting license, I must ask government’s permission. I even have to get bureaucrats’ permission to start a business braiding someone’s hair.

“Two-thirds of businesses in America require some form of government permission slip for you to do your job,” complains Sandefur. “Everything from something as simple as barbering to something as complicated as engineering. If you want to earn a living, you first have to get permission. Often…this is not only unconstitutional, but a violation of the fundamental principle that you have the right to pursue happiness.”

Sandefur’s state is trying to do something about it.

“Arizona passed a universal licensing law that says that if you have an occupational license from another state and you move to Arizona, you will automatically get the equivalent license. Which only makes sense. You don’t forget how to be an architect when you move from California to Arizona.”

Where regulation is heavy, Americans aren’t waiting for politicians to simplify things. They’re just leaving.

U-Haul records show people moving from blue states like California, New York, and Illinois to freer states like Texas, Florida, and North Carolina.

It’s a good thing that we Americans are free to move. We vote with our feet. We’re not totally stuck with the rules local politicians impose.

We libertarians like that.

“Libertarianism expresses the idea that the individual is in charge of his or her own life and has the right to achieve happiness or suffer the pains of making wrong decisions,” says Sandefur. “I’m a libertarian because I believe that freedom is the natural state of all human beings.”

“Seems right to me,” I reply, “Yet this is a tremendously unpopular political philosophy.”

“Libertarianism hasn’t been sufficiently explained to people. They think libertarianism consists of doing whatever you feel like….The opposite is the case. A truly free society is one where people have to take a great deal of self-responsibility.”

The core idea is simple: “You own yourself. Who else has a better right to own you or me? I’m the one who suffers if I make bad decisions. I’m the one who gets to enjoy the rewards if I make good decisions. So why should somebody else have this right to decide the direction of my own life?”

“To protect me from myself if I’m making bad decisions?” I reply.

“That’s always the excuse that’s given,” Sandefur says. “The kings never rode on top of the people because they wanted to, but because people were better off for being ridden upon.”

Let’s not buy into that.

“I don’t think government can ever really own you,” says Sandefur, “unless you let it.”

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