2008 Woodie Awards
Liberty above all
By: Bryan Cockfield
Issue date: 6/13/08 Section: Opinion
In an attempt to give up essential liberty for the sake of the "public good," some people have started giving local and state governments the power to make decisions for privately-owned businesses without the consent of the owners.
This is occurring mostly because some people run to government to solve problems rather than taking up their issues with the owners of the businesses they frequently visit. The power of the purse is being ignored.
In New York City, for example, it is now against the law for a business to cook with trans fat. Rather than the people of the city actually wishing to be healthy and going to those establishments in moderation, New York City decided to manage their health for them. Luckily, the help of the government keeps the people of New York from making bad decisions.
Unfortunately, the government can not make anyone a better person. The most prevalent issue today, especially since some local governments in South Carolina have started trying, is whether or not a privately-owned business can allow smoking.
Apparently, the trend seems to be that people like having the government tell them that they are not smart enough to choose whether or not to go into a restaurant that allows smoking. They claim that the government has the obligation to make lifestyle choices for its citizens.
Unfortunately, if the government could solve all of our problems, the Soviet Union probably would have done a little better. In our society, however, the free market ends up taking care of our problems much better than government intervention will.
Part of this problem is a desire for instant gratification. Rather than waiting for the invisible hand of the free market to take care of the best interests of a bar or restaurant, people seem to like the immediate yet ultimately destructive government bans.
This seems like a horrible idea, especially since the only government agency to ever turn a profit was NASA.
North Carolina recently struck down a state-wide ban on smoking in part because tobacco is such an important industry to the state but mostly because many private businesses had already made the good business decision to ban smoking. Since there are fewer bars and restaurants that were smoke free, bars could choose to corner the non-smoking market.
This is occurring mostly because some people run to government to solve problems rather than taking up their issues with the owners of the businesses they frequently visit. The power of the purse is being ignored.
In New York City, for example, it is now against the law for a business to cook with trans fat. Rather than the people of the city actually wishing to be healthy and going to those establishments in moderation, New York City decided to manage their health for them. Luckily, the help of the government keeps the people of New York from making bad decisions.
Unfortunately, the government can not make anyone a better person. The most prevalent issue today, especially since some local governments in South Carolina have started trying, is whether or not a privately-owned business can allow smoking.
Apparently, the trend seems to be that people like having the government tell them that they are not smart enough to choose whether or not to go into a restaurant that allows smoking. They claim that the government has the obligation to make lifestyle choices for its citizens.
Unfortunately, if the government could solve all of our problems, the Soviet Union probably would have done a little better. In our society, however, the free market ends up taking care of our problems much better than government intervention will.
Part of this problem is a desire for instant gratification. Rather than waiting for the invisible hand of the free market to take care of the best interests of a bar or restaurant, people seem to like the immediate yet ultimately destructive government bans.
This seems like a horrible idea, especially since the only government agency to ever turn a profit was NASA.
North Carolina recently struck down a state-wide ban on smoking in part because tobacco is such an important industry to the state but mostly because many private businesses had already made the good business decision to ban smoking. Since there are fewer bars and restaurants that were smoke free, bars could choose to corner the non-smoking market.
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