We should consider repealing a few laws, lest our rebellious spirits of 241 years ago stir again
Jul 4, 2017, 5:23 AM | Updated: 3:13 pm
There is always a limit to how many rules a human being can reasonably follow before going nuts, KIRO Radio's Dave Ross says. (AP)
(AP)
Our national personality was sculpted 241 years ago.
That’s when a group of impatient politicians grew so tired of the suffocating rules of a remote government that they not only threw off those rules but established the principle that the citizens were the source of state power.
Though the Constitution has changed many times over the years, the Declaration has not.
It still says all men are created equal and that their rights come not from a king, but a creator, and that when a government fails to protect those rights, ordinary people, beholden only to that creator, can alter or abolish it.
That document has put it into a lot of peoples’ heads that if they can write a credible-sounding justification, they can start their own country any time they feel sufficiently oppressed.
Americans don’t always act on this instinct, but I think it is firmly planted just beneath the surface: that if the rules get too crazy, Plan B is to go to REI, get a year’s worth of freeze-dried food, and start our own colony.
Let’s face it – we have a lot of rules governing everything from how much training you need before you can cut someone’s hair to how many fingers the driver of a car can use for activities other than driving.
This holiday should be a reminder to those whose job it is to pass laws; there is always a limit to how many rules a human being can reasonably follow before going nuts. And we ought to consider repealing a few once in a while, lest the rebellious spirits of 241 years ago begin to stir yet again.
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Tune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.
