My children last weekend at an amusement park screaming their heads off proudly.
In New York the trademark jingle of the iconic ice cream truck has been silenced.
In Sacramento you have to use your inside voice on a thrill ride called the Screamer.
And in Murpheesboro, Tenn., the city council implemented a body odor ban on its workers. Forget your deodorant and you could be breaking the law.
With more and more schools and local governments telling people what they can't do these days, some say America has become a nation of bans.
"Bans are the easy shorthand way for people to deal with problems or ideas they don't like, or actions they think are too dangerous for folks," said Kevin Keenan of the ACLU. "And too often, it slips quickly into the absurd."
--From an ABC News report August 18, 2007
What do you think will get banned here next? What can we do to stop and reverse the trend?
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6 comments:
My guess is the nannies will continue to go after anything that would pose a possible distraction while driving. First the cell phones, then the big macs, then the make-up artists, then the cd players, eventually of course disallowing passengers, as they may actually talk to you, thus posing the risk of an accident.
More quietly (at the same time) will be the food police slowly creeping into your regrigerator and your favorite restaraunts. Marching in tune with the fat police, they will methodically shame, harass, and eventually arrest those eating fatty foods or subjecting their kids to ice cream, pizza, burgers etc....
Child services will become extremely busy in the near future, as will the Police departments, as they comb the streets looking for people smoking in their cars and in front of their kids.
Oh the humanity....
Ban politicians from serving more than 1 term.
N.C.
Carbonated beverages are next. They're terrible for you and they contain no warning labels and, as well all know, we are incapable of making decisions for ourselves. Please save us Dr. Crawford!
MY take would be to TRY and ban "selective stupidity" (in all of it's incarnations)...!
That would go far to regain all the ground lost to the lack of personal responsibility.
;)
B.G.
The only way you will ever do away with the nanny state and the government over-reaching is by actually teaching the very next generation how to be self reliant, and how to accept responsibility. For so many years and generations we have just thrown up our hands and blamed everyone else for everything that happens, and let the state take care of everything, as a society we're just pansies.
It's ridiculous.
It is not the place of government to dictate what people can and can't do to their own bodies, in their own homes, or businesses that they CHOOSE to patronize.
It *can be* the place of a good neighbor, a friend, or a relative to discourage certain behaviors.
Those who push these kinds of bans are anti-social cowards who lack the numbers and the drive to effect a real social change. They are elitist enough to still think that they know whats best and are able to convince (read: buy) community leaders to inflict their views on others.
Only through close personal relationship can we effect real social changes. Outright bans of less-than ideal behaviors don't work, it leads to a dull commmunity without talent, initiative, or desire.
Instead of working on banning smoking, banning fatty foods, and otherwise making a nuisance of yourselves I challenge the groups and people in support of these bans to rejoin the community. Start with your friends and family, help them quit smoking, help them eat a little better, and go out and excercise with them.
From there you can start voting with your wallet, if you don't like what a business does, then don't spend money there. Its just that simple. The owners and patrons of those businesses can keep doing what they want and if you never set foot inside them, you won't be exposed to things you don't want to be exposed to.
If you are the type who would rather do it yourself, keep control of your own life, and do your own thing to better the world around you, vote Libertarian. We'll get the government off your back so you can do your good work.
For those of you who aren't as benevolent and just want to keep drinking, smoking, and blasting heavy metal... save me a seat!!
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