for himself. The inability to make such decisions has long been a justified reason to interfere in the process, such as in cases with young children. When a young child is about to run across a busy street in order to chase his ball, the childs parent, or any other bystander, is rightfully justified in physically stopping the child from running into the street. This is so justified because at the time of giving chase to the ball, the child is unaware of the potential consequences of running into a busy street. A large part to this justification is the idea of future-oriented consent, the concept that once the child grows up and realizes the consequences of his chasing the ball, he will agree that the interference of an outsider was justified. Another example for which this concept can be applied is the matter of seat belts. The question of whether or not a person should be punished for not wearing a seat belt, I believe, can be answered by comparing it to the previous example. If a person were to be involved in a car accident and be seriously injured because he was not wearing a seat belt, he would come to the realization that he should have been wearing it. At this point, he will realize that his personal health is worth the inconvenience of putting on his seat belt. The fact that any logical, rational person will come to this realization justifies the interference of an outside party, the government in this example. If this person does not realize that his health and his life is worth putting on a seat belt, it is safe to say that this person is illogical and irrational. If this is the case, a decision can be forced upon him for his own well being; the same way that it would be for a child for the same reasons. One opposition to this reasoning is that an adult differs from a child in that it is presumed that the adult can understand the consequences of his action whereas a child cannot. This is where the examples slightly differ. Howe...
