Paternalisic Laws Essay
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The Seatbelt Law
A paternalistic law is an interference with a person s liberty for that person s own good. An example of a paternalistic law is the law that says: all people must were seatbelts when riding in the front seat of a car. According to John Stuart Mill in his essay On Liberty a problem occurs when the government enforces paternalism. This form of paternalism is called legal paternalism. If legal paternalism is present in a society then that society might end up with a controlling majority so that the majority will impose their will on everyone. Mill would not agree with the seatbelt law because when the law is broken no one is harmed, and even if the seatbelt is necessary it can only help the person who can potentially break the law by not wearing it. I do not agree with the law I do not want my freedom taken away from me by anyone, and especially not the government.
The law, which says that all people who sit in the front a car must wear a seat belt, is an example of a paternalistic law. This law is paternalistic because it is making people do something, and interfering with people s liberty. The government is looking out for people when it makes them wear a seatbelt, and the government is protecting its people. Wearing a seat belt protects people from killing themselves, not killing others. People wear seatbelts for their own good, but when the government makes people wear seatbelts it interferes with the people s liberty. Wearing a seatbelt only effects the person who is wearing it, so when the government made the law it was only looking out for that one person. Usually when the government enforces a law it does it because the law will help more than just the person in which they enforce the law upon. In this case that is not true. The government is interfering in the lives of many people by making them wear a seat belt. Intervention is not necessary because if someone does not want to wear a seatbelt then they can only hurt themselves.
Many people would say that the seatbelt law is morally unjustified. J.S. Mill uses the Principle of Liberty to form his opinion: The only purpose for which power can be exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. In the case of the seat belt law Mill would not agree with it because it does not prevent harm to others, but it does prevent harm to the person who wears the seatbelt. The problem with controlling whether a person wears a seatbelt or not is that it negates that person from the freedom to unite over one s self over his own body and mind. Another liberty that Mill would say was violated would be the liberty of tastes and pursuits and that is: the framing plan of our life to suit ourselves as long as we do not harm other. In this case a person can wear a seatbelt if he/she wants to because it suit his/her self, and does not harm others. The idea that Mill would suggest to do in order to get people to wear his/her seat belt would be to educate and persuade the people. Society is only worse with these paternalistic laws because when the government in taking away a person s liberty it is taking away from total human happiness and social progress.
I do not agree with the law that forces people to wear seat belts while riding in the front seat of a car. The government makes laws to protect people from other people, and anything more than that takes away from our freedom. This law only protects the person who wears the seatbelt, and if they do not obey the law then no one is hurt except himself or herself. Wearing a seatbelt is a good thing to do, but there should not be a law for it. People can make their own decisions, and some people...
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