Get government out of our daily lives!
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, April 14, 2012
This morning, as I was going about my morning routine, it occurred to me in that process that I am thankful for government in my daily life.
For example, I am grateful that the refrigerator is operated according to an electrical standard – 120vAC (volts Alternating Current) – and that its internal temperature is similarly regulated and held to a uniform standard.
I am grateful that the culinary contents of my refrigerator have been and are subject to government inspection to insure their safety, that they are free of pathogens and contaminants, and that the measures, sizes and weights are uniformly standard.
I am grateful that the stereo FM radio receiver and speakers operate according to the same electrical standard as my refrigerator, and that the radio signal of the station to which it is attuned is received and processed properly, that its signal is properly regulated to avoid interference with other stations or electromagnetic devices.
Already, the Food and Drug Administration, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Institute of Standards and Technology Office of Weights and Measures, and the Federal Communications Commission – to name a few – have directly been involved in my day.
Indirectly, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Labor, the United States Commission on Civil Rights, the Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Commerce and many more have been involved in my day.
I am grateful.
I like knowing that every aspirin throughout this nation is uniformly safe. I like knowing that all medicines, cosmetics, shampoo, clean water & air, safe food, and things I use daily will not harm me. I am comforted in knowing that I can purchase housing without being discriminated against because of what I think or believe, where I worship, how I look or speak.
And so, to all those whose complaint is “get government out of our daily lives,” I have a suggestion.
Leave.
Leave now.
Leave this nation.
Leave this planet.
Go where you can have your dog-eat-dog world where you are unencumbered by any concern for your welfare.
And when you do, you may be joined by others.
And then, you’ll discover something unique.
You’ll start the process again.
Which process?
The process of governance.
You’ll complain that your neighbors upstream poop in the water where you bathe & wash your clothes, and which you use for cooking. So you’ll ask all of ’em to stop polluting your water. Problem is, it’s their water too. So you gotta’ make a rule. Then, you gotta’ enforce it. Then, you gotta’ have a means to try those who are accused of violating the agreed-upon standard. Then if they’re found guilty, you gotta’ have a way to punish them. But in it all, you gotta’ have a system to try the accused, and standards for the process.
Are you beginning to get the picture? Are you beginning to understand?
Government will never go away.
We cannot and will never “get government out of our daily lives.”
It’s a misnomer.
So…
What’s your real gripe?
Warm Southern Breeze 
marriagecoach1 said
It is the excess govt regulation that people object to like feeling up baby girls in case they are terrorists or feeling up grandam for the same reason.
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Warm Southern Breeze said
John! It’s good to hear from you again! I hope all’s well with you and yours!
The example you mention is something which I would call “abuse.” Doubtless, many others would also.
And toward understanding in that broader issue – that is, tracing its origins back to their beginnings – we see and understand that the overboard and untoward reaction was a rapid knee-jerk response to an issue to which we thought we were immune, and for which we had not prepared. We had not considered the possibility, or that somehow, we were magically immune… despite evidence to the contrary.
I write in reference to issues of national security and terrorism.
Granted, we ignore our safety at our own peril, yet that’s precisely what happened, which causality yielded the Transportation Safety Agency – itself not a bad idea. It was the implementation – a rapidly up-to-speed security measure which offended many – that was faulty. Again, the broader picture was lack of planning which is to blame.
And what’re adages relating to the same? “Lack of planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on my part,” and “Prior planning prevents poor performance.” Both are true in the instance you address.
Thanks for reading, and sharing your thoughts!
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therealkenjones said
Awesome!
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