The Limits of Government [CBD]

I recently had an interesting discussion with a young friend (he's 37. Get off my lawn!). The catalyst was an off-hand remark I made to him about the appropriateness of government using tax dollars to fund suicide hotline phones on bridges.

Yes, it may save money in the long term. Search and rescue and recovery operations are expensive, and preventing suicides will, obviously, decrease law enforcement expenditures (Whether the hotlines actually work is a different question, but let us assume for the moment that they do).

But is it an appropriate function of government to attempt to prevent suicide? The intent is noble, the result may save the taxpayers a few dollars, but it is a perfect example of the hubris of government. Extrapolate to poverty and drunk driving and unhealthy eating habits and smoking and large capacity magazines* and all of a sudden we have a government that tries to do all things for all people, almost always fails, but in the process restricts our freedoms in a way that would have been unimaginable just a few short years ago.

Look around...notice all of the little, seemingly benign attempts of government to control us.

There is a small park I drive past occasionally. It has a low spot that apparently gets pretty muddy when it rains. The town has seen fit to post a sign that says, "During Rain Events, Park May Become Impassible."

Ignoring the idiocy of the phrase, "Rain Events," is it really the purview of this municipality to remind its citizens that water is wet? That dirt mixed with moving water may cause footing problems?

What's your favorite example of silly government overreach?

*And shoulder thingies that go up!

posted by Open Blogger at 04:45 PM

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