Too many laws get approved as a form of legislative therapy -- as a way to make politicians feel needed, relevant and better about themselves. Here's one excellent example. Whether or not those new laws make much sense -- if they can be enforced -- is of secondary concern. It's all about feelings: how we feel about them and how they feel about themselves. I'm open minded on the question of whether this simply mirrors, or whether it feeds and perpetuates, our national neurosis.
How much trouble we all would be saved -- and how much madness could be avoided -- if, instead of letting them "act out" legislatively, we simply paid their psychiatry bills instead.
Showing posts with label nanny state. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nanny state. Show all posts
Monday, March 7, 2011
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Using Our Heads
"Sould Colorado ski areas require helmets on kids?" asks The Denver Post in a headline this morning -- a question that undoubtedly had a number of legislators salivating. But the body of the story makes the answer self-evident.
No need, really, since most boarders and skiers, and most responsible parents of same, already opt for a helmet, without the need for a government mandate. Some resorts now require them, which is their right as a private enterprise. And most slope veterans have enough common sense, or have had enough brushes with high-speed disaster, to understand that the minor inconvenience of donning a helmet is worth the added safety benefits.
Reports the Post:
"No legislation is under consideration here, but helmets already are virtually ubiquitous on the state's younger skiers.
"To me, this is the law catching up to where people already are. Very few kids don't have helmets these days," said Rob Katz, chief executive of Vail Resorts, which supported the California bill and operates the Heavenly ski area in the state. His company, with four ski areas in Colorado, would support similar rules here.
The state's largest ski operators — Vail Resorts, Aspen Skiing and Intrawest — already require kids in ski school to wear helmets. Many resorts also require their employees to wear them while working on the slopes. Even more mandate helmets for terrain-park riders."
A minority of folks won't have the good sense to make the smart choice, just as a minority won't confine itself to designated trails and insists on bending or breaking other rules. As it is on the slopes, so it is in society at large. For the most part, these poor choices fall heaviest on those who make them. The people who consistently make poor choices get weeded-out over time, as Darwinism does its thing. There's no end to government interventions, and to government expansion, if we take on the impossible task of reversing that process. That slope is steeper than any we have in Colorado.
Sometimes, it's better to just let nature -- and natural selection -- take its course.
No need, really, since most boarders and skiers, and most responsible parents of same, already opt for a helmet, without the need for a government mandate. Some resorts now require them, which is their right as a private enterprise. And most slope veterans have enough common sense, or have had enough brushes with high-speed disaster, to understand that the minor inconvenience of donning a helmet is worth the added safety benefits.
Reports the Post:
"No legislation is under consideration here, but helmets already are virtually ubiquitous on the state's younger skiers.
"To me, this is the law catching up to where people already are. Very few kids don't have helmets these days," said Rob Katz, chief executive of Vail Resorts, which supported the California bill and operates the Heavenly ski area in the state. His company, with four ski areas in Colorado, would support similar rules here.
The state's largest ski operators — Vail Resorts, Aspen Skiing and Intrawest — already require kids in ski school to wear helmets. Many resorts also require their employees to wear them while working on the slopes. Even more mandate helmets for terrain-park riders."
A minority of folks won't have the good sense to make the smart choice, just as a minority won't confine itself to designated trails and insists on bending or breaking other rules. As it is on the slopes, so it is in society at large. For the most part, these poor choices fall heaviest on those who make them. The people who consistently make poor choices get weeded-out over time, as Darwinism does its thing. There's no end to government interventions, and to government expansion, if we take on the impossible task of reversing that process. That slope is steeper than any we have in Colorado.
Sometimes, it's better to just let nature -- and natural selection -- take its course.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Nanny State Begets Nanny City
Cutting a city's payroll isn't an easy task, politically or practically, as we're learning in Colorado Springs. But one Florida mayor has found an ingenious new way to trim city staff using Nanny State justifications. It can seen so cold-hearted eliminating positions based on fiscal necessity alone. But what if you condition a city job on the employee making responsible lifestyle choices? That turns the heartless budget-cutter into the compassionate nanny. It's brilliant, really, and it just might fly, given the strange times in which we live.
Brooksville Florida Mayor Lara Bradburn really hates smoking, and smokers -- so much so that she wants the power to terminate city employees who don't kick the habit within a year. “For employees, they would have one year to quit smoking or using chewing tobacco or face disciplinary action that includes termination,”she has said. But these rules won't just apply in the workplace. They'll apply in the privacy of an employee's home.
How can Bradburn justify such an invasion of an employee's personal life? Easy. She uses the same reasoning that all nanny-staters use when they invade our personal lives.
Because the city helps pay for an employee's healthcare, it has an interest in that person making healthy lifestyle choices. An employee's failure to choose correctly can increase coverage costs, increase absenteeism, impact city operations. The city's control over a worker's healthcare plan gives it the leverage it needs to control a worker's personal life.
There's a reason that argument sounds familiar -- it echoes one we hear whenever nannies use the shared burden of healthcare costs as a reason to regulate personal choices. Motorcyclists should be required to wear helmets, say nannies, because "we all pay the price" when they fall and crack their skulls. If the motorcyclist isn't covered, other people pay directly for his care. And even if he is covered, the costs of his care may have to be subsidized by others with coverage who don't end up with an expensive cracked skull. Medicine in America already is "socialized," to some extend. And that gives nannies all the leverage they need.
But why stop at smoking, since city workers make other un-healthy choices? Maybe they gorge on snack foods and junk foods, leading to weight problems. Maybe they ride motorcycles or sky dive or scuba dive or engage in other high-risk activities. Once the state or the collective has a stake in your health -- once healthcare costs are socialized -- it also has an invitation to start dictating lifestyle choices. We see this on the small scale in towns like Brooksville, but on a much larger scale in the country at large.
The nanny state begets the nanny city, just as night follows day. ObamaCare will only accelerate the spread of such tyranny.
Brooksville Florida Mayor Lara Bradburn really hates smoking, and smokers -- so much so that she wants the power to terminate city employees who don't kick the habit within a year. “For employees, they would have one year to quit smoking or using chewing tobacco or face disciplinary action that includes termination,”she has said. But these rules won't just apply in the workplace. They'll apply in the privacy of an employee's home.
How can Bradburn justify such an invasion of an employee's personal life? Easy. She uses the same reasoning that all nanny-staters use when they invade our personal lives.
Because the city helps pay for an employee's healthcare, it has an interest in that person making healthy lifestyle choices. An employee's failure to choose correctly can increase coverage costs, increase absenteeism, impact city operations. The city's control over a worker's healthcare plan gives it the leverage it needs to control a worker's personal life.
There's a reason that argument sounds familiar -- it echoes one we hear whenever nannies use the shared burden of healthcare costs as a reason to regulate personal choices. Motorcyclists should be required to wear helmets, say nannies, because "we all pay the price" when they fall and crack their skulls. If the motorcyclist isn't covered, other people pay directly for his care. And even if he is covered, the costs of his care may have to be subsidized by others with coverage who don't end up with an expensive cracked skull. Medicine in America already is "socialized," to some extend. And that gives nannies all the leverage they need.
But why stop at smoking, since city workers make other un-healthy choices? Maybe they gorge on snack foods and junk foods, leading to weight problems. Maybe they ride motorcycles or sky dive or scuba dive or engage in other high-risk activities. Once the state or the collective has a stake in your health -- once healthcare costs are socialized -- it also has an invitation to start dictating lifestyle choices. We see this on the small scale in towns like Brooksville, but on a much larger scale in the country at large.
The nanny state begets the nanny city, just as night follows day. ObamaCare will only accelerate the spread of such tyranny.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Walk this Way
That we've degenerated into a nation of imbeciles and hapless stumblebums is obvious to anyone with eyes to see. But what choice do we have, really? When government insists on acting like a nanny, citizens naturally assume the role of helpless dependents. Confirmation of just how pathetic it's become can be found in this amazing story in today's Rocky Mountain News, which I paste below for the enjoyment of non-Coloradans who might miss it.
Read it and weep (unless you've forgotten how, and need a few pointers):
Denver city workers get tips to foil slips and trips
Rocky Mountain News
Some of Denver's city employees apparently are a little bit clumsy.
Last year, city employees reported 253 slips, trips and falls resulting in losses of more than $2.5 million of "incurred costs," which likely includes lost time and workers compensation.
To get a grip on the problem, the city's Risk Management Office launched a safety campaign called "Slips, Trips and Falls - Shouldn't Happen At All."
The name of the city's safety campaign grew out of the fact that all slips, trips and falls are "100 percent preventable," according to the employee newsletter InSight, which includes a picture of a foot and ankle in a cast.
"The best way to prevent these accidents is the use of common sense and positive walking practices," the newsletter states.
Among the practices recommended by Risk Management:
* Wear "appropriate foot wear" and walk slowly when conditions are snowy and icy.
* Take short steps to keep your center of balance.
* Don't carry items in front of you. Otherwise, you won't have good visibility of the ground or be able to use your arms for balance.
* Use handrails, if they're available, while on stairs.
* Clean up spills immediately. Warn others right away.
* Good housekeeping practices are key to preventing tripping hazards. Open file drawers and unattended boxes in hallways or under desks are trouble waiting to happen.
* Keep computer cords out of the way and off the floor if possible.
Some of the recommendations may seem simple, but "simple things are often forgotten," said LaCharles Keesee, the city's deputy chief financial officer.
"We're going to always try and do what we think is thoughtful and responsible and articulate the right message to our work force," he said. Also, the city can realize its greatest cost-savings around issues that seem pretty simple, he added.
Employees also are encouraged to look over their work area and evaluate what needs to be done to prevent accidents. They can send safety ideas to buzzonsafety@denvergov.org.
"Let's see just how good we are at injury prevention in 2009," the newsletter states.
Read it and weep (unless you've forgotten how, and need a few pointers):
Denver city workers get tips to foil slips and trips
Rocky Mountain News
Some of Denver's city employees apparently are a little bit clumsy.
Last year, city employees reported 253 slips, trips and falls resulting in losses of more than $2.5 million of "incurred costs," which likely includes lost time and workers compensation.
To get a grip on the problem, the city's Risk Management Office launched a safety campaign called "Slips, Trips and Falls - Shouldn't Happen At All."
The name of the city's safety campaign grew out of the fact that all slips, trips and falls are "100 percent preventable," according to the employee newsletter InSight, which includes a picture of a foot and ankle in a cast.
"The best way to prevent these accidents is the use of common sense and positive walking practices," the newsletter states.
Among the practices recommended by Risk Management:
* Wear "appropriate foot wear" and walk slowly when conditions are snowy and icy.
* Take short steps to keep your center of balance.
* Don't carry items in front of you. Otherwise, you won't have good visibility of the ground or be able to use your arms for balance.
* Use handrails, if they're available, while on stairs.
* Clean up spills immediately. Warn others right away.
* Good housekeeping practices are key to preventing tripping hazards. Open file drawers and unattended boxes in hallways or under desks are trouble waiting to happen.
* Keep computer cords out of the way and off the floor if possible.
Some of the recommendations may seem simple, but "simple things are often forgotten," said LaCharles Keesee, the city's deputy chief financial officer.
"We're going to always try and do what we think is thoughtful and responsible and articulate the right message to our work force," he said. Also, the city can realize its greatest cost-savings around issues that seem pretty simple, he added.
Employees also are encouraged to look over their work area and evaluate what needs to be done to prevent accidents. They can send safety ideas to buzzonsafety@denvergov.org.
"Let's see just how good we are at injury prevention in 2009," the newsletter states.
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