Comments on Pro Libertate: When Trouble Comes Knocking

Another reason we have license plates is so that t...

2009-04-14T11:01:00.000-06:00

Another reason we have license plates is so that the vehicle can be identified. That way if a vehicle crashes into your vehicle or your child crossing the street, or if your vehicle is stolen, then the registration will help the police that you complain about can find your stolen vehicle or arrest the reckless driver.

Well, really, the "license" was originally a volun...

2007-06-02T10:25:00.000-06:00

Well, really, the "license" was originally a voluntary "registration" that was foisted upon an unsuspecting public by assuring them that this would identify their property (vehicle) in case of theft, making location and recovery more certain. The cost of the registration was quite nominal, the funds being used only to pay for the direct costs associated with the operation of the program. The roads and so on have always been paid for by fuel taxes, the rationale being that those who use the facilities the most would pay the most money. That sounds reasonable to me.

As time passed, some bright fellow discovered that, with a bit of fiduciary sleight of hand, the costs of the registration program could be shown to increase, and the additional money could then be siphoned away to pay for other programs. When people started "doing the math" and realized that they were paying more for this "registration" than the risk of theft -- or the operation of this voluntary program -- could justify, the government(s) simply made it a requirement and called it a license. We meekly complied. Time for changes.

From my readings, I would suggest it was more abou...

2007-05-15T10:03:00.000-06:00

From my readings, I would suggest it was more about user fees, originally.

Briefly, vehicles became affordable and people began whining about the bad roads. Roads were more or less already considered a public utility, so state governments began taxing the primary users -- vehicles -- to fund this new liability. Early on, it was probably handled well enough, with the garnered funds actually being used to buy land, build roads, and pave them.

At some point, someone realized the civic duty of volunteer road use fees didn't produce enough to match the perceived need. Various forms of tagging to prove the tax had been paid arose, until the rather uniform policy we all recognize appeared in most states.

Things went along fine for several decades, but during my half-century of life, it became quite suddenly a rather brutal enterprise much as you describe, Will.

The best that I can figure is that we have license...

2007-05-15T06:40:00.000-06:00

The best that I can figure is that we have license plates and tags on our cars so that the issuing government can re-define an individual right (freedom of movement) as a state-rationed privilege (now you can only move as the government permits), and individual property (the automobile you've bought and paid for) as a form of "collective" property -- meaning that it can be seized by an armed thug on a technicality, even when you've done no injury to other persons or their property.

As I said, the above is my best guess, because it's the only answer that makes sense, albeit of a depraved kind.

I have a question: Why do we even have license tag...

2007-05-15T02:28:00.000-06:00

I have a question: Why do we even have license tags in the first place? Or license plates, for that matter?