“A Day in the Life of the Regulatory State”

In 1801, Thomas Jefferson expressed his view of good government during his first inaugural address. Our Founding Fathers believed that the best government governed the least since the people were then free to peacefully live in any manner that they choose.

With all [our] blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens–a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.

Unfortunately, 209 years later, government is involved in every single aspect of our lives. It is inescapable. We literally cannot eat, spend our own money or travel without government’s interference. The Competitive Enterprise Institute has posted a new video “A Day in the Life of the Regulatory State” to show just how much government impacts someone’s everyday life. Think you’re free to wake up, brush your teeth, walk down the street or work without government’s permission? Think again.

The amount of governmental regulation that has been forced on the American people is surely making the Founding Fathers roll over in their graves. As John Adams is often quoted,

Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that ever I took half the pains to preserve it.

Let it not be said that we did nothing to stop government from infringing on our natural rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Check out FreedomWorks’ Ning page or FreedomWorks’ action page to make your voice heard!