SS Commandant Helmke and the Seatbelt Gestapo

Well, they're at it again - Big Brother is alive and well in Sheboygan County. As if it isn't bad enough that the meddling overlords at the state level are considering changing seatbelt use to a primary offense, we in Sheboygan County now have to deal with our own local SS enforcers.

While I disagree with all seatbelt laws in principal, those that protect minors from their irresponsible parents are at least understandable. Adult seatbelt laws, on the other hand, are totally unacceptable in a country that prides itself on its freedom. We even send our young men to die in foreign countries so that others can taste that freedom.

Yet, here we are, at a point in history where we seem to be willing to abdicate our freedoms for the sake of a relatively minor reduction in risk to our lives. What a bunch of whining, sniveling, cowards we have become. We are willing to frivolously throw away the liberty that our forebearers fought and died to obtain, for the unsubstantiated promise that we will be safe from all harm if we just let our government dictate our personal choices for us.

There are those of us who choose to resist, either passively by simply refusing to comply, or through diatribes such as this, which are themselves endangered by a proposed government decree. This is where Commandant Helmke and his ilk come in. It seems that those of us who choose to resist are making the local enforcement detail look bad. So even though it is a seemingly minor offense (secondary, meaning you must be stopped for another violation before they can get you for this one, and the fine is only ten dollars) Helmke and his crew have decided to make it a primary enforcement effort. We can't have the ordinary citizens making personal decisions for themselves. Why, they might not be under the good sheriff's control!

Why am I making such a big deal over this seemingly minor inconvenience? Because it isn't about the inconvenience. It is about the principal of freedom, limited government control and right of adult citizens to make choices for themselves without the government's interference. Its that simple. And, the small encroachments on our freedoms lead to ever larger encroachments. The freedoms we enjoy today are less than half those that were enjoyed by citizens of this country a century ago.

From helmet laws for cyclists and seatbelt laws for motorists to how long you can let your grass grow and what color you may paint your house, our individual choices are being usurped by local, state and federal government officials in the name of the public good. I submit that these erosions of liberty and freedom are not in the public interest, regardless of the perceived benefits we obtain. The greatest of those uncertain benefits is not as valuable as the least of the lost freedoms. After all, no one is sacrificing their life to make sure we all have to wear our seatbelts. Maybe if that were what it cost they would reconsider the necessity of their effort.