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It always amazes me that people seem so unwilling to respect the choices of others. Two examples appeared today in two separate newspapers of the total lack of regard for personal responsibility.
In the Chronicle Herald we have the classic example of experts lobbying the government to force adults to wear helmets when on bikes.
In the Ottawa Citizen we have Health Canada looking into more regulation for caffeine and alcohol mixed drinks.
Do we really need the government to tell us what we should drink and what we have to put on our head?
Yes we will be safer with a helmet, and yes caffeine and alcohol together is a combination that a friend of mine once described (in the morning) as being ‘deadly.’ But still isn’t that our personal business?
I doubt that there is an adult out there who is unaware of the risks involved in biking without a helmet or consuming the ‘deadly brew.’ So if somebody makes the decision to accept the risk for whatever reward he/she perceives, isn’t that really his/her own choice? Wouldn’t it be his/her own fault if he/she gets his/her head smashed in?
By allowing the government to make this sort of decision for us, we are giving up our responsibility for own actions. We are sacrificing the very thing that makes us adults and full members of society. We are becoming nothing but a nation of wards of the state.
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Where does it stop? And I ask with a view to both sides of the slippery slope.
Would you say the same thing about seatbelts? What about other safety features the government mandates on automobiles like the drop engine and metal strength of the front hood? Some would go so far as to say it is no one's business even regulating how fast you are allowed to drive. How far do we go?
What about toys and lead levels and children's clothing and furniture (like cribs and car seats)?
What about government regulation of food safety and bacteria count? Should we have the right to sell and to buy cheaper but riskier meat?
Or how about banking regulation? The Canadian model of business regulation has proven its worth in the recent recession and is lauded around the world.
All of that has increased the "nanny state" and eliminates the choices individuals can make and increases the cost of government and consumer goods. With all of those we are giving up a little bit of our responsibility for own actions, sacrificing a little bit of the very thing that makes us adults and full members of society.
I think it is stupid of adults not to wear a helmet on urban streets, but that it should be their choice. I think it is stupid for people to try to require helmets for kids tobagganing.
But there is a limit in the other direction I - and I suspect most Canadians - would never tolerate either. It is tricky to find that balance.
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