Liberty Pen: Video: Milton Friedman on Bad Laws From 1978

Source:The FreeState

My definition of what Libertarian Economist Milton Friedman called bad laws are laws designed to protect people from themselves rather than from the abuses of others.   For example, a law making it illegal to attempt suicide and fail would be a bad law.  

Other examples of bad laws would be those requiring adults to wear seat belts or bike helmets. Adults who drive or ride in cars or ride bikes are more then capable of making these fundamental decisions for themselves. We don't need Big Brother to make these decisions for us.  After all if someone crashes in a car or on a bike, they are only hurting themselves.   I think that seat belt and bike helmet laws make sense for minors because they're not legally responsible.  Adults should have the right to make such decisions for themselves. 

Laws should be written to protect people from the abuses of others not from themselves.  It make sense that murder, rape, battery, terrorism, financial fraud, etc., are illegal because these laws protect innocent people from the abuses of others. But anti-gaming, marijuana, prostitution, homosexuality, etc., laws don't make sense because they are designed to protect adults from hurting themselves.

We have ourselves, family, friends and colleagues to protect us with their informed advice and we don't need Big Brother doing that for us.