We are much less free than in 1975

by John Seiler | September 3, 2013 4:10 pm

Economic Policy Journal lists [1]10 things you could do in 1975 you can’t do today because America is much less free:

1. You could buy an airline ticket and fly without ever showing an ID.

2. You could buy cough syrup without showing an ID.

3. You could buy and sell gold coins without showing an ID

4. You could buy a gun without showing an ID

5. You could pull as much cash out of your bank account without the bank filing a report with the government.

6. You could get a job without having to prove you were an American.

7. You could buy cigarettes without showing an ID

8. You could have a phone conversation without the government knowing who you called and who called you.

9. You could open a stock brokerage account without having to explain where the money came from.

10. You could open a Swiss bank account with ease. All Swiss banks were willing and happy to open accounts for Americans.

There are thousands of other examples.The monitoring is in place all that is required from here is the clampdown.

The differences, between now and 1975 in the business sector are even more prevalent. In recent years, in industry after industry regulations and prohibitions have been poured on top of free markets. It doesn’t look like things will get any better in years to come. Eventually, the economy will suffocate and collapse, if this continues.

I would add some more to the list:

11. In California, you could smoke in a bar.

12. In Michigan, where I lived then, you could buy alcohol at age 18.

13. You could buy a “gas guzzler” car, like the classic 1976 Buick 225.

[2]

14. If you were a child, you could play soldier, or cops and robbers, or cowboys and Indians with real looking plastic guns — instead of the ugly, bright-colored ones mandated today.

15. You could be politically incorrect.

16. You could attend a public school that didn’t look like, and operate like, a prison.

17. You could go to a pro baseball game and get an actual bat on “Bat Day.”

18. You could be an energetic boy without getting pumped full of Ritalin.

19. You could blast off an Estes model rocket in any vacant lot, especially a school’s.

Add your own below.

Source URL: https://calwatchdog.com/2013/09/03/we-are-much-less-free-than-in-1975/

---