Let’s talk politics. Two pieces of legislation at the State level recently caught my eye. First, a proposed ban on cell phone use during operation of a bicycle. Not that this demands any ridicule, it is incredibly ridiculous on its own. However, I’d like to tackle this and make a few comments on the overall issue of public safety. The seatbelt mandate struck first. Based on fairly accurate data, the State took up the banner of public safety and left people no choice but to wear those cumbersome contraptions. In addition, auto manufacturers were slapped with seatbelt regulations, many of which are unnecessarily costly. Don’t hear what I’m not saying, wear your seatbelt. But wear it because you care about your health, not because a beaurocratic elitist hundreds of miles away tells you to. Then came the cell phone law. This crossed the line into absurdity. Every one of us has been annoyed by an oblivious driver chatting away on their Blackberry. However, at the time, I never imagined the State would make such a bold move. Where is the line between public safety and civil liberties? If the State can dictate cell phone usage, what else can they wrap their fingers around? We’re “allowed” to eat in the car, put on makeup in the car, read in the car, and watch movies in the car…but not talk on a phone? The least they could do is use logic while advancing their socialist agenda. Given the precedent of this legislation it’s not hard to imagine the passage of a bicycle cell phone law. Thankfully, this law did not make it past committee. I do believe however that it demonstrates an increasingly obtrusive State that one day will more forcefully begin to restrict civil liberties under the guise of public safety.
The second piece of crap legislation: a ban on plastic bags in grocery stores. First off, this is a classic example of liberal hypocrisy. You can not, I repeat, CAN NOT be an advocate for the poor and an environmentalist. Environmentalism is the antithesis of a campaign toward “social justice.” The plastic ban will force grocery stores to only offer paper, for which they’ll charge a fee. The only alternative is to purchase reusable bags. Try explaining that to a one-income family of six living just above the poverty line. Grocery stores are united against the ban, except for fancy joints such as Whole Foods that cater to the upper class. The State again blatantly displays that it could care less about the environment by excluding department stores. So, I can go to Walmart and get my plastic bags, then take them over to Foodmaxx and get my groceries. Let me offer an alternative to Statism. Give trash value. Plastic bags are recyclable. If stores would charge a deposit on the bags, and refund it upon return, recycling would increase and littering would decrease simultaneously. A third party private company could mediate the exchange for a fee which certainly would not be passed on to the consumer as greatly or frequently as bag costs. But the free market is always the enemy of progressivism, and big government Statists in our legislature are too greedy to resist a power grab.
Posted by randyhill 
