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Mr. Jack Burkman
Burkman LLC
Washington, DC
Dear Mr. Burkman:
Your P.R. firms just e-mailed to me the announcement of your endorsement of the so-called “American Decency Act of 2014 [2]” – a piece of legislation that, if passed, would ban the National Football League from employing players who are openly gay.
I’ve got an idea for a better Act: “The Mind Your Own Business Act of 2014.” If passed, private citizens – including, of course, N.F.L. owners, coaches, and players – would be authorized to ignore you and other busybodies. Under my Act, private adults would be free to hire, fire, marry, live with, play with, play against, and generally to associate with whomever they choose on whatever terms they find mutually agreeable without having to worry that their voluntary interactions will be disrupted by the indecent pestering and obstructiveness of presumptuous intermeddlers such as yourself.
My Act, in short, would promote genuine decency in America.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030