McGovern has long been held up as the liberal’s liberal. Yet upon leaving public life as a politician he founded his own business and has long been rumored to have shifted to the right in his political outlook.
I don’t think he could be called a conservative, but certainly this op/ed titled “Freedom Means Responsiblity” in the Wall Street Journal indicates that he’s now supporting individualism over collectivism. Which, of course, is a move in the right direction.
Since leaving office I’ve written about public policy from a new perspective: outside looking in. I’ve come to realize that protecting freedom of choice in our everyday lives is essential to maintaining a healthy civil society.
Why do we think we are helping adult consumers by taking away their options? We don’t take away cars because we don’t like some people speeding. We allow state lotteries despite knowing some people are betting their grocery money. Everyone is exposed to economic risks of some kind. But we don’t operate mindlessly in trying to smooth out every theoretical wrinkle in life.
The nature of freedom of choice is that some people will misuse their responsibility and hurt themselves in the process. We should do our best to educate them, but without diminishing choice for everyone else.
Read the whole thing.
McGovern’s piece has implications for all sorts of policy situations.
Why should the fact that some people don’t have health coverage mean that we should all be enrolled in the same system?
Why should the fact that some people are fat mean that we are all denied certain food or dining choices?
Why should the fact that some people don’t like cigarette smoke mean that all property owners are denied their choice of smoking policy?
Little by little the freedoms we take pride in as Americans are being chipped away in the name of the “greater good,” or even just in the name of protecting us from ourselves.
But as McGovern notes, freedom means responsibility. If we want freedom, we have to accept responsibility for our own lives.