I don't know about everyone else? But I am pretty damn tired of living in a Nanny state. America was founded on the principles of pursuing life liberty and happiness, but it seems that for the past twenty odd years at least? There has been a significant cadre of individuals, both inside and outside of government, hell bent on deciding what the the rest of us are to be allowed to do. And I for one am about sick and tired of it.
Who are these people and who are these government agencies, to have a right to cause me to not only not be able to enjoy simple pleasures, but also to have to pay through the nose due to the idiocy of a few and the tragedy of a few others.
A contemporary comedian currently has an entire routine that he goes through that culminates in the assertion (and correctly so) "that you can't fix stupid." But it would seem that we have a never ending bureaucracy and legions of others in government agencies who are hell bent to nanny us into oblivion. They act like it's their established right to tell the world what to do, except as it applies to terrorism.
I direct your attention to today's most recent example of Nanny state.
Kid Deaths Prompt Recall of Blinds, Shades
(AP) Six companies are recalling millions of window blinds and shades, following the deaths of three children who got caught in cords that help the coverings move up and down.
The recalls, announced Wednesday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, involve some big-name companies, including Pottery Barn Kids and IKEA as well as smaller companies that sold their window covers at retailers such as Target.
No deaths were associated with the blinds and shades from Pottery Barn Kids and IKEA, but CPSC says there have been six reports of children becoming entangled in the inner cord of the Pottery Barn Kids shades.
What we have here are certainly examples of simple tragedies, but do these three instances warrant a multimillion dollar recall effort and the banishment of devices that have served mankind
for generations?
I think not, but am I in the minority? I don't believe that I am, but I do believe that the average American company and the average American consumer, have been so thoroughly cowed by the vaunted Consumer Product Safety Commission (among others), as to believe that there is absolutely no recourse and there is no defense once these predators set upon you. If some poor individual tips over on a ladder? The nest thing you know the ladder companies are being sued and the Consumer Product Safety Commission is requiring them to add additional decals to all their ladders. Not to mention the studies that must be done while examining the supposed improved warning signs and systems. The end result? The cost of ladders goes up again.
And in the end, it is you and I who foot the bill for it. And in addition to that we lose entirely the freedom we once enjoyed on the matter period.
Venetian blinds and other blinds have been around for over 100 years. And I am sure that during that time, a few un-managed children and a few stupid adults have figured out a way to hang themselves accidentally and or on purpose with the cords.
But does that necessitate a multimillion dollar recall and a complete refitting by the industry because of three deaths? And what of those of us who have these blinds. What of us who are perfectly satisfied with their performance and what of us who possess the seasoned ability to actually operate them without fear of strangulation to ourselves or our children?
Are we to be forced to turn in our blinds in exchange for purchasing more safety conscious models? And who pays for all that? Will there be any government subsidies for that? And should there be? How many more jobs are we going to have to lose in this country due to this kind of regulatory lunacy, before the American people wise up and shout enough is enough.
When are Americans going to wise up to that little known quantiative called personal responsibility? And when are they going to start taking some personal initiative and stop whining over their own idiocy. The answer to those questions trouble me, as I know for an almost certainty, that unless and until some people are forced to, they will never accept responsibility for their own lives.
That is why there are so many Americans today, who are so completely willing to give over their freedoms in a heart beat. For the promises of government to look after them and make their decisions for them? They will gladly hand over their entire lives and freedoms. These people are no better than robotic lemmings in my opinion, as they are no different than slaves.
The only difference being, the average slave at least possesses the intelligence enough to know that he has been enslaved. While the majority of Americans march dutifully forward each day and accept their daily doses of government sponsored pablum, as if there was no other source of independent thinking available.
And I am sick of it. I am sick of being told that I can't do this and I can't do that because some other individual or group of individuals is either so Lilly liver-ed or so stupid as to be in sheer terror of my possession of a set of window blinds that has cords. Or that they are so terrified that I have a firearm or an SUV or an unregulated pair of hedge trimmers.
I for one intend to make a stand. Here and now. I refuse to be assimilated into the collective of controlled thought by these idiots and their masters. I refuse to have my individual freedoms taken from me by a state sponsored program more concerned with protecting idiots and morons and fostering a socialist collective, than protecting me and my family from the real threats of the world today.
I will keep my blinds and thank you very much. I will also keep my incandescent light bulbs. Go ahead! Stop making them. I am already hoarding enough to last me through the rest of my life. I refuse to participate in this lunacy and when I have the opportunity and ability to vote with my pocketbook? I do so readily. And if more Americans did the same, we could end this lunacy full stop in less than six months.
Marx's chant was "workers of the world unite!"
My belief is that free men and free women better unite and begin to control and influence their own world and environment, or else there are those who will be more than willing to do it for them.
I'm off to Ebay now to see if I can find me a set of lawn darts at a reasonable price. And I think I will buy some horse shoes and a bad mitten set before they ban them too.
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