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I fell into the libertarian mindset several years ago, but I had never felt invested in the idea's until very recently..
You see, I work in one of the most heavily regulated Industries in North America (Outside of Nuclear Power)..
I deal with the government on one level or another many, many, many times a day, from the local cop, who tells me I cant park somewhere, to the, state DOT, I'm dealing with some form of government often, this honestly doesn't bother me, its just the way it is, and the system that we have, but I deal with these fun little rules called the Hours of Service, which I will try to explain..
I have two clocks, a 14 hour clock, that is like a stopwatch, it starts as soon as I perform any work, even if that work is just fueling. I also have an 11 hour clock, this is the total number of hours I can drive, as long as its within the 14 hour period above, at the end of either of the above time periods or if I should become sleepy I can choose to take either an 8 hour break followed by a 2 hours break, or a full 10 hour break witch resets me to my full usable hours, however in 8 days, I may only work 70 hours.
So let me give you a scenario that happened yesterday, I woke up very very early, 7 am, couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up, ate breakfast, and got changed and dressed for work, and started driving, after about 5 hours, I was tired, wanted to take a couple hour nap, but I knew if I slept long enough to feel rested I would waste over half of my day, so I got a cup of coffee and kept on rolling, stopping a bit later to get another cup of coffee, yawning the WHOLE way, I made it to Portland late last night, and promptly went to bed.
The moral of this story is, I accept the government putting limits on how long I can work, but its very frustrating to be told "no, you cant take what you feel is the safe option, unless you want loose a half a days work" and frankly sometimes I need to choose my wallet over what is safest, I don't like being put in that position, I should be able to choose when I work, how long I work, and when I stop to rest, as long as I dont work more then xyz hours in a 24 hour cycle, and am off duty for at least xyz hours in that cycle, I should be legal, but thats not how it is, what this also effects is how much money.
For those who do not know, most truck drivers are paid by the mile, not by the hour.
Boiled out, I support the big expensive social programs, universal national health care, universal welfare, all that jazz, but I hope and pray for not less government, but less government in my daily life, less regulation in my life, less government in my bedroom, I don't want the government to protect me from myself, however it would be nice to have it there to catch me if I fuck up, or get fucked over, I mean this is the richest country in the world, we ought to do better.
You see, I work in one of the most heavily regulated Industries in North America (Outside of Nuclear Power)..
I deal with the government on one level or another many, many, many times a day, from the local cop, who tells me I cant park somewhere, to the, state DOT, I'm dealing with some form of government often, this honestly doesn't bother me, its just the way it is, and the system that we have, but I deal with these fun little rules called the Hours of Service, which I will try to explain..
I have two clocks, a 14 hour clock, that is like a stopwatch, it starts as soon as I perform any work, even if that work is just fueling. I also have an 11 hour clock, this is the total number of hours I can drive, as long as its within the 14 hour period above, at the end of either of the above time periods or if I should become sleepy I can choose to take either an 8 hour break followed by a 2 hours break, or a full 10 hour break witch resets me to my full usable hours, however in 8 days, I may only work 70 hours.
So let me give you a scenario that happened yesterday, I woke up very very early, 7 am, couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up, ate breakfast, and got changed and dressed for work, and started driving, after about 5 hours, I was tired, wanted to take a couple hour nap, but I knew if I slept long enough to feel rested I would waste over half of my day, so I got a cup of coffee and kept on rolling, stopping a bit later to get another cup of coffee, yawning the WHOLE way, I made it to Portland late last night, and promptly went to bed.
The moral of this story is, I accept the government putting limits on how long I can work, but its very frustrating to be told "no, you cant take what you feel is the safe option, unless you want loose a half a days work" and frankly sometimes I need to choose my wallet over what is safest, I don't like being put in that position, I should be able to choose when I work, how long I work, and when I stop to rest, as long as I dont work more then xyz hours in a 24 hour cycle, and am off duty for at least xyz hours in that cycle, I should be legal, but thats not how it is, what this also effects is how much money.
For those who do not know, most truck drivers are paid by the mile, not by the hour.
Boiled out, I support the big expensive social programs, universal national health care, universal welfare, all that jazz, but I hope and pray for not less government, but less government in my daily life, less regulation in my life, less government in my bedroom, I don't want the government to protect me from myself, however it would be nice to have it there to catch me if I fuck up, or get fucked over, I mean this is the richest country in the world, we ought to do better.