Rights exist only if people recognize that they are free to exercise them. We are creating a culture — and raising our children within it — in which the exercise of those rights in virtually every sphere outside the home is becoming more and more perilous. We are a subject population now and Rand Paul, to name only one person, believes that any attempt to curtail the now-habitual private abridgement of our fundamental rights is a threat to "liberty." Unions are a threat to liberty. Workplace safety rules are a threat to liberty. Don't like the way your boss is prying into your private life? Find another boss to pry into your private life. Rights are given to us by Whoever, but the assistant floor manager can render them impractical. Nice work, Whoever. The primary threat to civil liberties in this country today comes from what Rand Paul likes to call "the marketplace." Do something about that, Rand. Talk to the guys in the boardroom about "liberty." They'll laugh at you harder than I am.
- Charles Pierce, explaining to the civil-libertarian-come-latelys that they needn't get into a lather about the government oppressing us and denying our civil liberties and whatnot; like so many other functions once attributed to government,
that one has largely been privatized
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