The All Knowing State
April 9, 2009
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Posted by Michael S. Langston
Reported in the Orange Country Register (here), the state of California is considering the passage of a bill which will outlaw certain TVs based on efficiency standards. Once again the state has decided that the normal populace, if left to their own devices are unable to make even the simplest of decisions (emphasis & links theirs):
The California Energy Commission is considering a proposal that would ban California retailers from selling all but the most energy-efficient televisions. Critics say the news standards could take 25 percent of televisions off the market — most of them 40 inches or larger.
As usual, the state is only going to do this “for your own good”, and as usual we are likely to watch yet another intrusion into our private behaviors become cemented in law as part of the state’s business without much of a fight.
Little by little, they remove this right and that. The amount of water your toilet uses, the amount of gas your care uses, whether or not you can allow smoking in your own private establishment, and on and on and on and on. All because the state can’t trust you to do the right thing.
To paraphrase a Thomas Jefferson quote, “When the populace is fearful of the government, that is tyranny. When the government is fearful of the populace, that is liberty.”
I fear the government no longer cares what we think.
Categories: Business, Critical Thinking, Economics, Legislation, Quotations
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Tags: Business, California Energy Commission, Critical Thinking, Economics, Legislation, Orange County Register, Quotations, Thomas Jefferson
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