Two weeks ago my girlfriend and I purchased an inflatable kayak, and I was pretty excited to use it. I wanted to take it for a "spin" at the local reservoir, the Loch Raven Reservoir.

So I called them, and asked what kind of state restrictions were in place. Maybe I needed a permit? A license? I was sure I was going to be extorted to some point just to use my property as I wished. But, I could only wish that were the case. Instead of extorting me, they told me they do not allow inflatable kayaks in the reservoir. And, to be clear, I don't have a plastic bag and two toothpicks for oars; it's a pretty legitimate, heavy duty plastic, and we have since taken it down a river and had no problems at all.

So, needless to say, I was pretty pissed. It hadn't rained in weeks and the rivers were all too low to enjoy, so I went online to look around at some more places around Baltimore County to take it. Instead of alternatives, I found that it seems most watersheds in Baltimore and Hartford County, Maryland don't allow inflatable kayaks.

Wow. Awesome.

So I called the Parks and Rec office to try and get some answers. Of course the answers were from my safety to environmental concerns. But, my concern is, if you are going to plunder from me (tax) and others to maintain, how are you going to tell us what we can and cannot do with it? Apparently there is a suction system at the bottom of the resevoir to control water levels, or some bullshit, and they said if my kayak were to break, we could easily drown. Well, I've swam across the resevoir with friends, and seen many others do it and live to tell their tale. But, I have also heard of people dying. So, their concern is warranted. But, how can you make me pay for something and then restrict my right to use it?

It is no one else's responsibility to worry about my well being. If I want to use a watershed that I am forced to put money into, I should have the right to do that. What this is, is a clear case of the state taking the responsibility off the individual because we must be too stupid to take care of ourselves. I am quite confident in my swimming abilities, and was not at all concerned about my kayak being destroyed. It is like seatbelt laws. It doesn't make society safer. These laws and restrictions don't do anything to make society better, all they do is restrict our freedoms. If I want to risk my life, and take my kayak into a body of water (that is not private property) I have every right to do that. If I take my kayak into the resevoir, whose rights am I violating? Am i violating anyone else's right to also use the resevoir as they please? No. There is plenty of room for everyone. There is no justifiable way to argue that i have to pay for something, but I'm not allowed to use it the way I wan t. How can you justify making me pay for it? If I can't use it how I want I don't want to pay for it? You didn't have my consent to take my money, you didn't have my constent to put that money into the resevoir, and you didn't have my consent to restrict my right to use things that you force me to invest in. How can anyone claim an authority like this is legitimate? Why do we argue for safety over security? Why can't I do what I want with my life, if those actions are not going to effect anyone else? The USA is not a "land of the free". It is a land of plunder, a land of restriction, a land of tyranny. That is no system I want for me or anyone else. We should give people back responsibility for their own lives. Maybe it would make people more responsible, knowing they are their own safety net. Maybe not, but that isn't something I, or anyone else, should have to pay for.

I did have the opportunity to take it out down in Ocean City, MD, and had absolutely no problems. It was a great time. I can't wait to do it again. I just wish I had the freedom to do it 20 minutes from my home, instead of driving 3 hours because the state says I have no right to do what I want with my property. If they tell us what we can do with our property, with no legitimate concern for others, no moral justification, how does anyone argue this is a free country? The founders of this country did understand that advocating for security over freedom would get us neither. Now, it looks like our state makes us enemies everyday, and then restricts our rights in the name of security from their own makings. It is almost silly that we accept their justifications for these restrictions. If I am meant to die in a kayaking accident so be it. At least i would die doing what I want. Instead, we live at the rule of an arbitrary group of people that think they can tell us how to use our property. It is no way to live.