Daily Breeze (Torrance)

What personal liberty means to me

- By Larry Elder Larry Elder is running for governor of California in the recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom on September 14.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom praised President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanista­n, a withdrawal that left American citizens stranded and our Afghan allies betrayed and left to die. Our enemies no longer fear us and our allies no longer trust us. That Newsom praised this deadly misadventu­re that left $80 billion of U.S. military equipment in the hands of the Taliban says much about the governor’s bad judgment and utter lack of common sense.

Newsom, who used the coronaviru­s to abuse his authority, oversteppe­d his role as governor, virtually locking down the entire state and shuttering businesses, while he enjoyed himself — mask-free and indoors — with friends and supporters at a world-famous fancy restaurant.

We saw the same with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at her hair salon in San Francisco.

Such hypocrisy merely adds insult to injury, however.

Nearly a third of California’s restaurant­s have permanentl­y closed due to COVID.

The state’s unemployme­nt rate is 7.6% — the second highest in the nation. Nearly 69,000 California­ns filed new jobless claims for the week ending August 14, the highest total in three months for the state. One group disproport­ionately hurt by the type of repressive COVID policies are

“I believe individual­s do not need the government to tell them how to think and what to do. The notion of individual liberty and personal responsibi­lity is the complete opposite of big government.”

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letters@dailybreez­e.com (Please do not include any attachment­s) women — because they are often overrepres­ented in industries most affected by the shutdowns, such as tourism, cleaning and domestic services, and entertainm­ent. Ironically, Newsom fervently claims that he cares about women.

By contrast, I believe individual­s do not need the government to tell them how to think and what to do. The notion of individual liberty and personal responsibi­lity is the complete opposite of big government. The liberty to choose to get vaccinated, or how much to pay someone who agrees to work for me — and the responsibi­lity for any negative outcome — is what allows a society to be healthy and strong.

For me, individual liberty means that government needs to get out of our personal lives. It also needs to get out of foreign countries where it no longer has any business.

This does not mean opposing all government. Clearly government has its place, albeit limited. It exists to protect the public.

The federal government exists to protect its citizens from outside enemies, such as during

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war. Which is why citizens pay taxes for a military. State and local government­s exist to protect law-abiding citizens from criminals. Which is why citizens pay taxes for a police force. From this perspectiv­e, inane calls for defunding the police are neither humane, nor righteous.

Recently, staffers of my campaign were attacked when I visited a homeless encampment in Venice Beach. Such violence and lawlessnes­s are precisely what the government should protect its citizens against. Yet crime and homelessne­ss in California have soared under Gavin Newsom.

If elected as governor of California, I intend to reverse the disastrous decline of our state and focus on fixing its problems such as the historic rise of crime, homelessne­ss, cost of living, rolling brownouts, raging wildfires and water shortages.

That is how I intend to govern California.

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