I was chatting with a very bright Yale 3L last night, and we were talking about a wide range of legal issues. I found that our discussion always boiled down to one point. She said there is some problem in society (health care, the press, the free market, etc). I agreed with her, and said so what. In my mind, just because there is some societal ill doesn’t mandate the government getting involved. Particularly, just because there is some societal ill doesn’t mean the Constitution allows governmental action.

Perhaps my blind faith in the invisible hand is too idealistic, but in most cases, I would rather suffer the societal ill and leave man’s liberty intact, than infringe on a person’s freedom in order to attempt to solve that problem. The government’s track record is abysmal at best. The government does a lot. Too much in my opinion. Yet we still have a LOT of problems. And there will always be problems.

So the next time someone bemoans some problem in society, just reply, so what.