How Much Protection Is Too Much Protection?

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The 10^th Amendment of the US Constitution says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”

I don’t remember anything about Minimum Wage, or working conditions provided by private business being anywhere in the Constitution.

The federal government dictates these examples of “forced behavior” whether you like them or not.

Few could argue that without wage and hour laws workers desperate for a job could be exploited. Thankfully there is no maximum wage, although some members of Congress would happily put a ceiling on the earnings of some Fortune 500 CEOs if they could.

How Far Should Protections Go?

Sometimes is seems our protections go too far. Things like mandatory seat belt laws and helmets for motorcycle riders do save lives, but should the government force behavior even if it’s supposedly for our own good?

The mayor of New York City wanted to regulate the size of soft drinks within the city limits. It was for our own good.

Food chains were “forced” to include calorie counts on menus adding to the expense of the products we consume. But it was for our own good.

If we knew the calorie count, we might not gobble up that Quarter Pounder with fries if we knew it had more calories than the population of some small countries.

Texas just passed an open carry law, which means you can wear a sidearm on your hip just about anywhere in the state as long as you have the necessary permit.

Now Texans can protect themselves if some insurance salesman gets too aggressive.

Some Protections Make Sense

Some protections or regulations do make sense and are for our own good. Speed limits come to mind, although Montana got along just fine without a speed limit for many years.

But the government forced speed limits on us by threatening to pull highway funds. But we did hike it up to 80 mph, which is almost like not having one.