The people making all these laws are not after the common good, they are control freaks. Their main interest is getting away with forcing others to do something. For example, smoking bans. I don't smoke, but, I was amazed that when our football stadium first went non-smoking, you were banned from smoking in the seating area, which was outside in the open air, but had to go INSIDE under the roof to smoke. Made no sense to me. Now, I have some friends that smoke those goofy steam, non tobacco electric cigarets. They tell me lots of non-smoking places won't allow them to "smoke"those, even thought there is no smoke, no fire, no tobacco. Seems to me any excuse to control others make some folks happy campers. Government will never stop making laws controlling your behavior, it's what they do. Only sticking to the constitution as closely as possible can save us, and that seems highly unlikely.

I am an avid supporter of personal rights and it frustrates me when I think of all the rights and privileges we are losing in this nation. It seems you need a permit (all come with a charge of course) to do most anything. You can’t put up a simple fence in many parts of the country without a building permit all because folks kept putting up unsafe fences so the lawmakers decided to regulate them. Think about it, if we in photography don’t start using some common sense and extending some common courtesy the lawmakers will step in. Courts are beginning to rule against the more aggressive paparazzi even now. Maybe we should start giving some thought to how we approach our craft from a moral perspective instead of jumping on the “It’s my right” bandwagon. The liberals in this country swing a big stick and they are all about the good of the whole and have little respect or interest in individual rights. If we continue on the course we’re on and continue to support rude and invasive attitudes and constantly proclaim “It’s my right” I promise the lawmakers will change or at least modify how “your rights” are defined. You don’t think so? Try going fishing or hunting or even buying a gun without uncle Sam’s permission, those used to be common rights as well. Think about it next time you jump to support some obnoxious creep with a camera.

As it is now here where I live, Most concerts etc forbid anyone but their staff or selected photographers to bring in any camera ( yet I phones and cell phones are in abundance there)
That policy kept me from attending 2 concerts as taking photos at the show of the performers is just as entertaining as seeing and hearing the show .
I purchased a Nikon 50mm lens specificaly for concerts and never got to use it at 1 so far.
Even the rodeo's and PBR are adapting a no camera policy in some areas.

You don't "own" property in the USA anymore. You rent it from the government, now they don't call it rent they call it property tax. Stop paying your rent (tax) and see how long you keep your property. If you own something that means you have control over it, again not so with property. You own a home and want to build an addition or an outbuilding you better get permission, you want to rent it out? Don't expect to just rent it to whoever you want, there's rules you have to follow...and on and on.

It's not Uncle Sam as much as cousin Willard. The towns, counties, and states are usually the entities that regulate activities. They do it partly out of public safety and partly to raise revenue. As soon as they start issuing permits, they need people and a building. That costs money, and part of the fee goes to paying salaries and maintaining the facilities. What's left over goes into the general fund.

As much as we all like the thought of "living free," we'd soon find that life without laws would be very unpleasant.

On the contrary, the 'rant' as you call it, pertains to photography, because the issue is the same-shall we have a free-for-all society in which I take any picture I want, when I want, of whom I want, and if they don't like it, too bad; or shall we self-police?

We obviously have not self-policed, or entertainers would not be prohibiting any kind of photographic implement during their concerts because they feel it distracts them and prevents the audience from participating in the show because they are too busy photographing it and sending the photos to their friends who aren't there. In addition, many people video tape the concert with their phones, which in almost all cases, is not legal.

So the issue is the same, regardless of subject matter. We haven't self-policed ourselves, and so rules have to written. There are simply way too many people in the country wanting to do their own thing at the expense of those deemed irrelevant.