Give em an inch

Desire is a strong human nature. We humans constantly desire things we do not have. We want what everyone else has. If you give us one thing, we want another. It's true in all aspects of life. When the 'quit smoking' fanatics from 20 years ago started their campaign of getting rid of smoking in the workplace, I said at the time, if you give them an inch they will take a mile. If you effectively ban cigarettes by raising taxes and passing prohibitive smoking laws, then once they are rid of all the rights of smokers, they will move on to the next thing, and then the next and the next and the next. They will do this by empahsizing the fact that they are saving our lives, they are protecting us, and lastly they are saving us money. They will couch their terms in the use of simple, but effective language that declares that they are only thinking of us. How sweet! A perfect example is the American Lung Association's recent report that gave the majority of state governments an 'F' grade for not regulating smokers.

"Effective tobacco control saves both lives and money," Charles D. Connor, president and chief executive officer of the lung association, said during a Monday afternoon teleconference. "Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death in America."

My biggest beef with all this is that what started as a program to get people to stop smoking in the workplace has ballooned into spending massive amounts of dollars, passing a vast amount of restrictions and laws that affect a small portion of our society. These groups want government to intervene in our lives, not only on the federal level, but on the state and local levels as well.

Vince Willmore, vice president for communications at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said: "This report underscores that we know how to win the fight against tobacco use in the United States, but need strong political leadership to implement proven solutions at all levels of government."

I'm using cigarette smokers as an example, but it could be any group that gets targeted. New York is now passing laws about what restaurants can sell, and California is looking to regulate what can be offered in grocery stores. Is it just me? Am I the only one worried about government regulators run amuck? Probably, but at we should be aware there are powerful groups out there that wish to regulate our lives, and I for one say to these government wonks, "stay out of my life, I can regulate it myself quite nicely thank you."