The Nanny State

Here we are. Free men and women becoming less free by the day. The insidious Nanny State has inched one step closer to becoming a reality. However, before I go into rant mode I should specify that I don't smoke and never have. 

SO, ignorant masses of the world unite! We're supposed to believe that a single person in this country, nay, THE WORLD buys cigarettes because the packaging is just irresistibly awesome. Millions of tax-payer funded dollars go into conceiving and legislating this pointless garbage. Hundreds of thousands more go into the court battles to uphold it. We have truly become the butt of a sick joke. No pun intended.

Now, on a tangent, the recent spate of dog attacks are a matter I take very seriously but I was dumbfounded when I read a letter to the editor of the Examiner (Tasmania) that insisted all dog owners should require a license to retain their loyal pooch. Now, between using a chainsaw, working with (agricultural) chemicals, driving a car, owning a gun and working on a construction site, my wallet is stuffed with enough government licenses and permits, thank you very much. The sad fact is that there are plenty of workers in this country that would look at that list and think "if only MY list were that short." But a "dog owners" license? Scary, but yes, people actually have such a strong knee-jerk reaction toward "preventative legislation" that they will rally and lobby for tighter and tighter controls on anything and everything that could conceivably result in someone suffering a booboo. 

First hand, my course requirements to attain a "White Card" were eye opening for all the wrong reasons. See, you need this accreditation in order to enter a construction site. Not to WORK on a construction site mind you, just to walk in an empty the bins in the foreman's office after everyone's knocked off for the day. The materials for this two day course? Read: do not go swimming in the cement mixer. It was truly common sense redefined, and when this training requirement sprung into existence EVERYBODY in the construction industry had to undertake it. Guys who'd been banging up skyscrapers for forty years had to lose two days pay and sit there patiently as it was explained to them why you shouldn't drill through a wall without first turning off the power at the mains...

So what's the solution? Fight back! Take every over-regulated occupation, industry and hobby and form a "NO NANNY STATE ALLIANCE". They/we can rally against all those taxpayer funded anti smoking, anti drinking, anti careless driving, anti drug abusing, anti leaving your towel too close to the heater (I'm not kidding) advertisements that plead with people to stop being idiots (guess what, for that demographic idiocy is not something they dabble in, it's a way of life). 

We will never stop danger surfacing in this chaotic world of ours. Bad things happen, sometimes to good people, but the answer is not to make more rules and fund their enforcement by taxing people harder. Such a system creates timid, fearful citizens who take no responsibility for their destiny and rely on the government of the day to save them from the ups and downs of life. 

File that way of life under "In Communist Russia..."