Lying, stealing, regulation of the marketplace (e.g., insider trading, monopolies, etc.), protecting the elderly, protecting animals. Countless examples.
Lying isn't generally outlawed. You can lie through your teeth and generally you can't be limited and nothing can be done to you for lying. The situations where lying is legally punishable are, relatively speaking, few and far between.
Stealing, on the other hand, is generally outlawed. But having laws against stealing isn't "limiting" - you don't have a right to take my property without my consent and punishing you if you do isn't "limiting" you.
The bit about protecting the elderly is a bit vague. The elderly have rights that you cannot violate and laws codify those things so that violations can be punished. There's nothing wrong with that.
As for the regulation of the marketplace, I don't believe that we should be in the business of regulating the marketplace - it's perfectly capable of regulating itself.
The salient point in my post wasn't that we cannot have limits in our society; it's that society cannot arbitrarily choose what to limit, although it sure tries, as in your example about marketplace regulation. There are some things we we, as a society, can place limits on and others that we, as a society, cannot and should not. I'll explain the difference as I pick apart 240's post. Ready? Set. Go!
we don't let people murder each other.
Ridiculous claim #1. You don't have an inherent right to murder someone, so we don't "limit" you in any way by punishing you if you choose to murder someone.
we make people stay out of certain areas, like military bases.
Ridiculous claim #2. You don't have an inherent right to be on someone else's property, so we don't "limit" you in any way by punishing you if you choose to trespass.
we limit abortions, or ban in some areas.
Now you're doing better, but there's a small issue. And it's not whether abortion should be allowed or not. It's that this isn't regulating
behavior. It's whether a woman's right to control the biological functions of her body outweight the fetus' right to life, if it indeed has such a right, especially at the expense of another.
we let people carry guns in some places, and not others.
Ridiculous claim #3. Owners have property rights. Non-government actors can choose to deny you access to their property based on any reason they want. Government actors can deny you access only in some cases, where they have a demonstrable, compelling interest in restricting weapons.
We limit who can marry who.
Not quite. We limit to whom "marriage licenses" can be issued. The important, underlying question is whether "licenses" should be needed at all.
We limit when a person can drive, drink, buy guns, or vote by age.
Woah, there... slow down. One thing at a time chief!
Driving: First of all you don't have a right to drive, and the government can certainly decide who can be granted the privilege to operate a motor vehicle
on public roads. But nobody can stop you from driving on your private property.
Drinking: I don't think society should be able to limit when a person can drink. Certainly we can limit the sale - but not the consumption - of alcohol.
Buying Guns: It's true, we place some, usually loose limits on who can buy guns.
Voting: We don't grant those who haven't reached the age of majority the right to vote. I don't know that I'd call that a limit as such, but even if I did it's certainly defensible and not the kind of limit that I was referring to. Remember, I asked you to show me how we limit
behavior.
If you have a felony record, you are limited on many things too.
People should be allowed to judge you and your past actions. There's nothing wrong with that.
Now, when Santorum said, specifically, "limit individuals’ wants and passions", he could have meant that. Maybe he meant something else, maybe legislating morality is something he supports, although both parties do that in different areas.
Santorum has made it very clear that he wants to legislate morality and people's wants and passions. He has said so. Repeatedly and unambigiously.
