Category Archives: Alien Abduction Insurance

There is nothing I hate more than the government telling me how to spend my time.I am a free citizen of the United States of America, and the government telling that I must do something? Does not sit well.I’m sure many people would agree with the above sentiment. so don’t start screaming “civic duty” at me in the next few moments, as after years of coming up with every legitimate excuse I could cram on the little piece of blue perforated paper, my number has finally been called.Jury duty. next month.“But I teach at 8 a.m. and I have a two-year-old and an infant and I work freelance jobs and it’s a financial hardship thing and I think aliens may be abducting me and …” I said in my last-ditch phone call to the Mercer County courts.“I’m sorry sir; everyone must serve,” was the answer.To be clear, then: I, free American citizen, must put my entire life on hold because the government is telling me I have to show up for jury duty.I’ve got to say: not a fan.and for those of you with “civic duty” on your tongue, swallow it. while it’s a right and proper thing to do — to serve when called — it’s not my “duty” to stop my own life because some dude sold drugs or something and now the government wants to put him behind bars.Fact is, anytime the government gets into my personal stuff, I automatically turn into a cartoon version of a Libertarian. I subscribe to the “slippery slope” theory: Today it’s jury duty. Tomorrow it’s … well, heck with tomorrow. Yesterday it was a military draft. (Yep. I’m about to tie a week’s worth of jury duty annoyance to the idea of being drafted into the armed services during times of war. please, save the hate mail until I finish my point. and that point is …)I simply do not understand — nor will I allow myself to be convinced, quite frankly — that a country born on the principles of individual freedom can turn on a dime and tell it’s 18-year-old population, “Hey sorry bud, but you’ve got to go kill some people and, oh yeah, you might get killed also. why? Because we said so. now go.”I’m all for a voluntary system to the above “civic duties,” that’s for sure. Or even some kind of weighted system where people who actually want to serve on a jury — or fight in a war — take precedence over those who would rather not.But to force me, under penalty of law, to do either of the above? seems pretty darned anti-American to me.and sure, I realize I’m standing on some shaky principles. But I simply value my personal freedoms, and anytime the government steps and says I have to show up for jury duty — or register my car, or have health insurance, or anything else that infringes on some pretty basic (to me) human (really, American) rights — my hackles get raised.and the “why” to it all is simple: It makes me wonder what the next thing we’ll “have” to do in the name of civic duty. I’ve seen too many History Channel documentaries and read too much science fiction to be able to contemplate that question without getting the willies.Read Jeff Edelstein every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. he can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and twitter.com/jeffedelstein.