The greater issue, however, is not whether youth mental health screening is appropriate. The real issue is whether the state owns your kids. When the government orders “universal” mental health screening in schools, it really means “mandatory.” Parents, children, and their private doctors should decide whether a child has mental health problems, not government bureaucrats. That this even needs to be stated is a sign of just how obedient our society has become toward government. What kind of free people would turn their children’s most intimate health matters over to government strangers? How in the world have we allowed government to become so powerful and arrogant that it assumes it can force children to accept psychiatric treatment whether parents object or not?...The Psycho State, Rep. Ron Paul, R., Minnesota, 9/14/2004
Whatever your other opinions on Ron Paul, he was on the Nanny State trail when he hammered out this quote for Lew Rockwell's blog. Responding to President Bush (yes! the Nanny State has many disguises) in the President's proposal to mandate universal mental health examinations in the nation's public schools, Paul laid the case on the line.
Do we surrender to the idea that we cannot manage our own lives? Do we surrender to the idea that we cannot be good parents? Do we surrender to the idea that only government can solve our problems, pick up the doctor bill, pay the defaulted mortgage?
If you believe the answer to those questions is "no," welcome to the club. And this club knows what to look for in 2008.
Luther
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