Nannyism
The job of government is to provide certain services that we, as individuals, can’t provide for ourselves… police and fire departsments, the military, building roads and bridges, and so on. I object when either elected officials (politicians) or bureaucrats (career government employees) overreach and try to control the lives of citizens in a manner beyond the charter of government.
For example, I think it’s fine for the government to educate people about healthy eating habits and to ensure our food supply chain is safe, but TELLING people what they can or cannot eat is unreasonable. Over the years, there have been many laws proposed and some passed to ban the consumption of certain foods or, at least, make it very difficult to do so. Smoking has been banned in many, many locales. Trans fats are about to be eliminated in New York City. Many schools ban vending machines with chips, soft drinks, and candy. The list goes on.
Now, the city council wants to prevent any new fast food restaurants from being built in South Los Angeles. They are concerned that the obesity rate is too high in this area.
Now, the intent of such government actions is laudable… it would be great if people weren’t so obese, or if they ate healthier, or if they exercised more, or if they watched less TV, or if they read more, or if they….
… but where does it stop?
And what gives the government the right to tell ME what I can eat? They can SUGGEST. They can RECOMMEND. They can EDUCATE. But they should not DICTATE.
Where is this power of government founded? It certainly isn’t in the Constitution.
And what happened to personal responsibility? WE can make our own decisions. We SHOULD make our own decisions. The really bad part about the government TELLING us what we can and cannot do is that, over time, people become CONDITIONED to that… and begin to look to the government to tell us how to do other things. The government becomes our nanny, whose job it is to take care of us. We can’t do anything without the government’s approval. And, when things go wrong, the government must help us…. after all, we can’t take care of ourselves!
Our country was founded on the principle of FREEDOM… not restriction. It seems government entities, and their scope of control, are expanding at an alarming rate. We need LESS governing, not more.
