We’re All Hypocrites
This post is not “really” designed to piss off every single possible demographic in our small, but appreciated, readership. It is meant to remind all of us, myself especially, that the next time we’re pointing our finger outward we should be doing it in front of a mirror…
To The Liberal Foodie Crowd: I hate to break this to you, but wishing the city ordinance banning urban chickens, or the USDA’s raw milk gestapo would go away is otherwise known as wanting “smaller government” and is a cornerstone of the Tea Party movement – albeit with different “issues” in mind. What if your neighbor wanted to put in a single-wide trailer next to your city-neighborhood brownstone? Would you go out of your way to help them change those ordinances? Maybe. Maybe not.
To The Anti-EPA, Pro Mountain-Top Removal, Drill-Baby-Drill Crowd: I hate to break this to you, but putting the jobs and welfare of the many (as in “Don’t let the hippies take our coal mining jobs.” and “We need cheaper gas.”) at the expense of the individual’s rights and freedoms (As in to drink clean water and breathe clean air on their own property.) is otherwise known as Utilitarianism, which is, philosophically, very close to communism. Look up this phrase: “The greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people.” The self-reliance, independence and individual Liberty your bumper stickers speak of is in direct opposition to utilitarian philosophy. Calls for tort reform that limit an individual’s right to have their grievances heard in court so that “the many” may have the benefit of cheaper health insurance is yet another example of the “conservative” party pushing utilitarian concepts.
To The Less-Government Conservative Crowd: I hate to break this to you, but wanting less government AND pushing for federal legislation to outlaw marijuana or gay civil unions is a textbook example of cognitive dissonance. Look it up. The more laws you ask Big Government to pass in order to control someone’s morality, the Bigger Big Government gets.
To The Legalize-Weed, Politically-Correct, Environmentalist Hippie Crowd: I hate to break this to you, but the more you involve government in legislating issues like “equal air time“, funding for entitlement programs, “stimulating” the economy, controlling hand-guns and enforcing healthcare buy-in, the more POWER you give government to do things like tap your phone, tell you who you can or can’t marry, what you can or can’t smoke, what you can or can’t drink on Sundays, what types of milk you can buy, what corporate research and foreign wars you have to help pay for, and just about anything else you wish they’d knock off. Your right to inhale the smoke from a plant should be none of the government’s business right? Well the Tea Party happens to think the same about their right to choose how, when, where, and where not to buy their health insurance or give to charity.
If I didn’t piss you off, don’t feel too left out.
I did my best to piss off everyone just a little bit, but you’re always bound to miss a few.
Just. Kidding.
SERIOUSLY ——–> Please don’t get upset at this post. If you do you’ll be missing the point entirely, and perhaps that will be my fault, but it won’t do either of us any good either way. If you’re feeling a rage coming on, ignore everything else above and focus on this: We all share common issues. We probably agree on a lot more than we disagree on, and definitely agree on more things than our political leaders and the mainstream press would like us to think we agree on. None of us are perfect squares fitting into perfect square holes (or round ones, for that matter). These days I define myself, when I have to, as a socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative, legislatively libertarian, independent voter. But I never hear THAT demographic referred to in the polls! We aren’t classified as easily as our stereotypes indicate. Furthermore, our minds often change over time and, believe it or not, sometimes we’re wrong.
I didn’t know it ten years ago, but I was wrong on a lot of issues (as I see them today). I wanted the government to make laws pertaining to this issue and that issue because I saw that the world wasn’t “fair” and thought that it was the government’s job to make it fair. But it’s not. In fact, I learned that the more I ask the government to do to make it fair (Take farm subsidies, for instance. That worked out great for small family farms didn’t it? Not.) by creating laws, the more power I give them to pass laws that take away my freedom. Had the conservative movement spent less time bashing me over the head with divisive issues pertaining to their version of “morality” and more time explaining how freedom and small government, or tyranny and big government, are inexorably related – I probably would have learned that I was wrong a lot sooner.
So my question to you is this: Without even mentioning how you disagree with them, what common ground can you find with what you might otherwise call “the other side” or “the other party”? And what did you believe ten years ago that you now feel you were wrong about? Please keep it civil.
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Category: Rants, The Transplants
We believe that humankind has lost some important things in the march toward progress. That is not to say progress and simplicity are mutually exclusive. We believe we can have both, and this site catalogs our journey as we try to do exactly that.
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How come everyone else is smart enough and has enough self-control to stay away from these topics on non-political blogs, but I just can’t seem to keep from vomiting up stuff like this?
PS: Right now Google is deciding to show a Rand Paul ad in my sidebar. They show whatever they think is relevant to the post. I find that… interesting.
I’m not sure I can identify with any side because I don’t feel like I really identify with any party. I used to be a registered democrat but as I grew older, I realized I was started to become more conservative, a thought that actually frightened me. lol But nowadays, I don’t go by party affiliations because they are all evil in my book and they all have their own agenda. When voting, I go for the lesser of evils which are usually independents, and sometimes I’ll admit I don’t even know who the independents are. But I figure sooner or later, if I vote independents enough, maybe at some point we will be given a third option in the voting booths.
But to get to your post, I, like you, used to think that things weren’t fair and that the government should help them. But the older I get, the more annoyed I become. There are legitimate people that need help, who fall on hard times and how are trying to get themselves onto the right path. And then there are those who milk the system for all that they can and I hate to admit that I know some of them in “real” (aka FB) life. I sit here and go to work every day, as does my husband, pay our bills, do the best we can for our daughter, have paid my husband’s child support faithfully without being late a day for the last 12 years and the government looks at me like good job, now help this one over there and that one over there and that one over there. Hello, what about my help? I’d like to get out from where I am and move ahead but I can’t because I’m helping everyone else live their lives. Ugh, maybe I shouldn’t have responded to this post. lol That is the one thing that I think was ‘wrong.’ I believe that the government should have safety nets for people but back then, I cared less about where the money for these programs were coming for than I do now. Now I think its important to get ppl back on track as quickly but effectively as possible and limit the length of time that they have on these programs. People need to be responsible for themselves and the decisions that they make. I’m tired of everyone looking to the government for handouts while still continuing to live their lives while I”m home scrimping and saving. And one of those friends from FB that I was talking about who lives in Vegas is constantly going to parties. Hello, how do you live in Vegas and go to parties, get bailed out of your mortgage twice and still collect unemployment, meanwhile I work, husband works, never a bankrutpcy, very good credit but can’t afford to buy a house. Ok, I will stop now before this becomes my own blog. So sorry.
Appreciate this post. It is amazing how much people scream and yell at others all the while their own thinking and their own set of demands are painfully inconsistent. Neil Postman and the level of public discourse and all of that… Perhaps we should raise the level of discourse within ourselves in order to eventually raise the level of public discourse!
LOL, Mshelez – no worries. I think you put just about the right amount of emotion in there before going over the edge. I find myself looking over the edge often myself. It’s good that we find it easier to “pull back” the
oldermore mature we get. And it’s good that we can give ourselves permission to change our minds over time.There are an interesting bunch of issues there, which I think have been written about on LASL. I’m sure there is a blog you can link to for each issue, and perhaps think about expanding on later
Ways to get rid of “no chickens” laws was the subject of one, but my Google-Fu is failing me this morning.
Thank you for challenging us to think outside the square
Great post Everett. Liberals and Conservatives are both sucking on teats on the same udder, so to speak. While a liberal may want to protest a law telling a citizen who they are allowed to fall in love with, a conservative may protest a law telling a citizen how they are allowed to protect their home.
The bottom line is that both sides want to call on government to inhibit individual freedoms based on their own relative moral standards. The most important issue to me isn’t even a passing thought to my neighbor. Or worse; Just as important, only of the opposing opinion.
Who knew civil liberty was so complicated?
Indeed. It would be nice to find some sort of common ground, but that seems less and less likely to happen.
Perhaps just a big plague to reduce the world’s population by 90-95% and give some room to those who remain…
Great post. As the political machine grinds forward, the 2 parties are becoming more and more the same. Oh, they each have their “pet” projects (environment, gay rights, whatever), but the biggies (social security, education) will play out the same way regardless of who holds power.
Fortunately, for me, I read and understood “Atlas Shrugged” in my mid-20s and have been questioning the need for govt to be in the middle of my personal affairs ever since.
I own property and fight the govt taking away my personal property rights every chance I get.
I work for my money and fight the govt taking it from me. I will choose when and where to spend it tyvm. I can choose my own charities to contribute to. And no I don’t mind paying small percentage for defending the borders, roads and police; but the “big 2″ and wall street bailout? No, every economics and business class I’ve ever taken says those companies should have failed. Oh here comes the cry “but all those people would have been out of work”. Yea, for about 5 minutes until China came in and bought out the company and started it back up. Or until the japanese companies ramped up their production to fill in the gap.
It’s called choices. People choose to give up their financial freedom by working anonymously for employers who are run by boards rather than by individuals. And boards aren’t concerned with anything buy making sure the dividends are paid to the investers.
ok… I guess that’s my rant for this morning. Hope you enjoyed the ride! ha!
Thanks AnnDenee…
I’m glad you liked the post, and I’m always interested in reading a good rant. But I really am curious about the questions I asked before. Your views on these issues are important and valid, but the question – and the point of the post – isn’t about where we are “right” so much as where we can honestly look at ourselves and say “I think I could have been wrong about that” or to look at “the other side” and say “I think I can agree with what they’re saying here”.
Again, I don’t want to discourage anyone from commenting, but I’m very interested in exploring where we DO agree.
As an aside, I read Atlas Shrugged too (and the Fountainhead) but realized then, as I still do, that Ayn Rand wrote those novels in the 1940′s and 1950′s when capitalism was still capitalism, although it was fast eroding into what we have now, which is corporatism. While I might agree with Adam Smith and many conservative economists about the power of the invisible hand to steer a capitalist society in the direction that is best for her people, I think even Mr. Smith himself would agree that this same economic axiom would not apply so easily to corporatism. Thus, there is some role for the government in terms of consumer protection and, possibly, economics.
Do you see what I mean about what happens when we start focusing on where we disagree? You and I, and probably everyone else here, could go on all day (hopefully in a friendly way, as you have done) about our views and why we think we’re right. But for once, I’d like to talk about how we think we might be wrong, and about how we can see the logic and usefulness in someone else’s views.
I’ll start again:
I am wrong to argue with people about stuff like this. I really am. I can’t help it though. This is a big reason why I’m not active on Facebook anymore; because I would get into political and religious arguments with my family, my loved ones. In all the years that I’ve been passionate about such issues I don’t know that I’ve ever actually changed one single mind – except my own.
I have been a Liberal Democrat for most of my adult life, but in the last five or six years have gradually come to realize that fiscal Conservatives and legislative Libertarians have a lot of REALLY good, logical points, including the concept of limiting government power. At some point during that period of transition I have stopped considering myself a Liberal Democrat. I have changed. And if I have changed does that mean I was “wrong” before or just that I held different views before? This is what I mean by looking in the mirror.
Again, thanks for your “rant” too, and thank you for reading mine.
Interesting post, Everett. Moving home to WV has got me thinking about similar things, in part because most of my extended family is on the opposite side of the ‘culture war’ from me.
I think the two things that I’ve been wrong about politically for a lot of my life are 1) believing that it was important to align with the major political party I disagreed least with in order to work hard for “lesser evil” and 2) judging people who disengage from politics as being ignorant and irresponsible.
I read ‘A People’s History of the United States’ for the first time this winter, and it forced me to re-consider a lot of my neatly drawn mental categories and political heuristics. The book, combined with some of my disappointments with the Obama administration, tore down the remnants of my partisan loyalties.
Now I find myself a bit unmoored politically, to the point that I didn’t vote in the recent gubernatorial primary. I couldn’t decide who the lesser evil was and, besides, I would have had to borrow a car to go to the polling place . . . . In the past I would have had nothing but scorn for a stay-at-home mom who wouldn’t go 5 miles down the road to vote. But now I keep thinking about all the other people who didn’t vote, and the REM lyric, ‘Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy.’
WOW! Hanna that’s some awesome self-reflection you shared there. Indeed, I am starting to see the wisdom in some of the people who I used to think “didn’t care”. Maybe the do care, but know that getting worked up about something with friends and family isn’t going to do anything but hurt your relationship with loved ones. Or maybe they just didn’t want to get into it. Or maybe they had “withdrawn in disgust”. I had always assume they were just apathetic and “part of the problem”. Thanks for sharing and making me think!
The first time I ever voted in any election, in any country, was the 2008 presidential election, where I had drunk the cool-aid and thought that there might well be a chance for change. The Obama has been a massive disappointment to me, but up until recently I’d have declared them less evil than the Cheney/Bush junta they replaced. Now, I’m not so sure. We’re still peeing billions of borrowed dollars a day into Iraq and Afghanistan, and now, in the guise of NATO, we’re at war with Libya. Gahhhh!
I used to actively not vote as I believed the system was broken. Here in the US I think I’m going to restrict my future voting to the local issues that have meaning to me, since the feds are going to do whatever industry tells them no matter who is elected. At least I can influence whether more of my local tax money gets peed away on transit boondoggles.
As for Everett’s question. I have lived my life with the philosophy of “ignore your government as much as possible, pay as little in the way of tax as possible, keep your head down and live your life”. The WTC attacks in 2001 started me looking at the news for the first time in my life, and want to “participate” and it’s taken me a decade to realize that that was a serious mistake. To whatever extent possible I’m going back to my “head down and ignore them” philosophy.
I don’t mind looking at other people’s views and perhaps even changing my mind on occasion.
I’m liberal in my political views but personally conservative. I’m fiscally conservative. I belong to the group of people that believe in protecting the greater good against the greed of the few. However, government is not removed from big business. And it’s the greed of those few that corrupt everyone. I live around an hour from Rand Paul’s home city in Kentucky. I did not vote for him, and I won’t vote for him because there are too many points that he believes in that is TOO much for me, however, fiscally speaking, he’s made VERY valid points that I agree with whole-heartedly. But it’s not enough to make me want him in office. I believe that silence perpetuates this broken system, because those that are greedy are taking control of things that hurt the common good. I don’t think that stricter regulations on individuals is the answer, but rather stricter regulations on businesses is more in order and in our government we’ve gone the other way around. Wall Street can monitor themselves. Monsanto monitors itself. The food industry monitors themselves. The packaging industry monitors themselves. YET two people can’t get married to one another without some huge political upheaval. A person can’t defend their home and loved ones to the BEST of their ability without some huge political upheaval. And I think that’s where government took a bad turn. I’m pretty sure if there were more regulation on business and less on individuals there could potentially be MORE available funds for helping our sick, poor and elderly.
Tracy I’m in agreement, personally, with everything you said. However, I’m starting to realize that we’re not going to keep this discussion down to the two questions asked at the end of the post. LOL, I should have guessed that much.
As long as we’re all being civil to each other I suppose there’s no harm in us ranting a little. We all deserve that much at least.
Gosh! I’m late to the party! I’m not going to get too into my specific views here.
My husband and I have never had political views that matched. We always loved to debate (but never fight) politics, especially since we had such different thoughts on the matter. However, as time has gone on our views have been shifting. Sometimes similarly, sometimes in completely opposite ways. But we are always respectful.
That is the biggest thing I’ve learned. I will respect other opinions, even if they aren’t my own. I will not try to change someones mind if they don’t want to listen.
If we were all the same, the world would be boring. We would never have anything new to learn, and never have anything new to discuss. Now, I’m not perfect. There are a lot of people/views our there that I think are totally off the wall batshit-crazy, but no matter how hard I shake them, they won’t change.
If our race learned a little more respect, I think we could have a much happier world.
Everett and Hanna, wow you got me thinking, thank you!
Ten years ago I believed I was a poster child for the so-called apathetic generation and felt gulity about that. So I strived to understand politics and get involved. Now, sad to say, I have come full circle and yet again feel apathetic about the whole game. Once again, I live my life despite government.
As for common ground, I see crossovers the whole time amongst the parties. There is much more common ground than we think. That’s why it all seems like such a game to me.. a game of individuals who stand in the playground and make what they represent seem soooo different from others, so colorful and right, in order to attract the most attention. The concept of serving people long forgotten, it seems like a popularity contest whilst the elephant in the room are the shared commonalities. Seems there is more to be had in dividing and conquering than truly serving.
On a personal note, Everett I don’t think you should even consider holding back from this kind of post or conversation – you have the ability to translate and distill, and to carve angles that make people think. Personally, I relish this. It’s what makes the Sunday broadsheet so interesting. Bring on the editorials; I think you’ve unearthed a new skill!
First of all, Everette, Lady A is right. Never hold back from this kind of post. When you put out there a question to the masses that could potentially make people think, do a double take, take an extra split second of consideration before they follow a certain course of action, you are doing the best thing that a writer of any calibur could possibly do. You are creating a catalyst for potential social change. It takes time and it takes a lot of people doing it – but eventually this post of yours could be part of a mindset change in other people that might start to bridge the gap between people who think they are on opposing sides. I say this is an excellent subject and the way you wrote it is both disarming and intelligent.
It’s pretty easy for me to find common ground with everyone because from my point of view, each segment or group has gotten at least one thing right.
For the groups you mentioned, it goes like this:
Liberal Foodie Group: Yes, smaller goverment and less regulations and laws on food. But also smaller government everywhere else. I’m non partisan because I don’t value government in any sense. I’m capable of policing myself and protecting and caring for myself. If I am not in some way, then I either learn my lesson or I suffer injury or death. That’s what life is. Should someone else cause me harm because they are not policed by a government then it is no different than where I’m at today. I suffer at the hands of people now, even though they are policed. Funny how when you make things against the rules, people find a non-rule breaking way to make other’s suffer. Until that becomes against the rules too… No matter the source, suffering is suffering.
Anti EPA, Yeah Drill baby crowd:
Doing the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people is an excellent philosopy. But what you see as the greatest good and what I see as the greatest good is where we differ, I can’t imagine that burning more oil is good for any of us. EASIER for us, yes, but good for us?
Less Government Crowd:
You and I, we may get as close to seeing eye to eye as any of the groups mentioned here. I’d be fine with no government, no land ownership, no money, no cars, no cities and surviving on my own merit by hunting, foraging, and building and making anything I should need. Because of an eternally swelling government (since the dawn of civilized society) we have lost our ability to fend for ourselves more and more. When we accept constant help and protection we lose the ability to survive. Mother birds kick their babies out of the nest for a reason.
To the Legalize Weed crowd:
Yep. I agree. You’re going to smoke it anyway and all the laws about it do is put money from fines in the government’s pocket. So long as you don’t drive high (or drunk), I don’t care what you do. Gay marriage? Sure. Go right ahead. Who you love is your business, not mine. Live your life. Be happy. So long as it does no harm to others there shoulnd’t be any restriction.
My bottom line:
It doesn’t matter what government or lack of we have, or what food is availible to us or how the economy is – mankind will always want something that they don’t have and they will always point the finger at other people as to why they can’t have it. Everything else is just the structure of the moment, not the cause of the drive behind it.
Humans are well known for thinking “if only I had that, then I would be happy” You know, the grass is greener on the other side syndrome. That plus curiosity is a lot of why we now have the technology that we do.
“The concept of serving people long forgotten, it seems like a popularity contest whilst the elephant in the room are the shared commonalities. Seems there is more to be had in dividing and conquering than truly serving.” – LadyA
This is so true. Could you imagine ANYONE in our current federal government who so believed this that he/she would be willing to go against their own beliefs simply to do the very thing that their constituents wanted? I can’t. Jefferson Davis did though. And quite possibly the last person in government to do that. HE didn’t want to secede from the Union. HE didn’t think it was a wise choice. And he definitely didn’t WANT to be President of the new Confederate States. However, the state of Mississippi thought that he ought to, and since he was the Senator representing them, he did what they wanted. Though I don’t agree with his action, I do believe we should have more politicians like that.
Everett, I have many friends who are of opposing political views. And I have many that are of similar views. I can agree with something from each of them. However, I think we have such a dividing language that it is very hard to find that common ground. Both sides do it. When someone from the same party does something, it’s one way, but when someone from the opposite side does the EXACT SAME THING it is an atrocity. I like the Coffee Party. It is all sides of the fence believing in civil discourse. Respect is tantamount there.
TracyDK I’ve always wanted to check out a coffee party meeting, but never got the chance. We’re certainly not going to find one here in Hillsville, but maybe FLoyd.
Karma thank you. You’ve written a whole new post! You know it’s interesting how many cultures, philosophies and faiths say the same thing but in different ways. It’s otherwise known as the Golden Rule:
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Judge not, lest ye be judged (similar, but not “exactly” the same)
And even Imannual Kant’s “Categorical Imperative” arrives at the same conclusion from a logical and philosophical perspective:
In other words, if you can’t handle everyone else doing it, don’t do it yourself. Running red lights or texting while driving are good, low-controversy examples.
And as Charlie Daniels once sang:
I don’t have long hair, and I’m only a country-boy by family history and current circumstances. But my son is going to be a country boy and I hope, long hair or not, that people leave him alone to do what he wants to do as long as he isn’t hurting anyone else by doing it. Enough said.
The golden rule (and it’s variations) are probably the only thing religion has presented to me that I strongly believe in. Not to say I don’t follow spiritual beliefs, but I those as seperate from the concept of religion.
I guess of all the things that people do that are harmful or cruel, judging others for any reason is the one that gets me the most. Of course there are times when I do it too, but if I catch myself at it I think more deeply about why I am reacting the way that I am and (hopefully) let it go. I may not agree with the actions of many (or most) people, but it’s not my place or anyone else’s to condemn them for it.
It’s like teachers in elementary school say to kids who try to tattle on others – worry about what you are doing not what he is doing. It’s a good lesson that few of us ever learned.
I know that it’s quite likely I do things that infuriate others, I know I also do things that infuriate me when other people do it. What is important isn’t being perfect at being a good, open, non judgemental person – it’s knowing what you are and what you are not, and genuinely trying to be better than you are now.
I do enjoy Charlie Daniels, and I agree with what he says in that song. My life is my life and I can live it how I please. If you don’t like it, go away and leave me be.
All we can really do when we get arguments or harrassment from others about our politics, lifestyle and choices is politely disagree, and if they can’t drop it or let you live your life then maybe they don’t need to be in it. I have unfortunately had to walk away from several people in my life, a lot of which are family. But, after time some of those relationships picked back up and the issues of the past were forgotten. There’s always hope, right?
Better late than never I guess, but I love/hate this type discussion
As for changing views: I was born and raised a Republican, thought environmentalists were stupid and thought nuclear power was awesome. Somewhere along the line, I became an environmentalist (maybe something about spending alot of time on rivers.) A few years of real life engineering taught me that nothing can be designed to never fail, and a few years in Corporate America taught me there are very few limits on how much cost cutting can happen even on life-critical systems. No nukes for me now. I started reading a free liberal weekly (you are what you read?) and I changed my registration to Democrat. Now, they’ve all ticked me off and I’d have changed to Independent already except I think my political mail and phone calls would be ten times what it is already.
A very good friend is pretty single minded on the small government issue and we have discussions on it all the time. I can see the waste, but I’m not as adamant about it as he is as I am on how corporate control is the real culprit. Maybe it’s because my husband and many friends work for the state or the Feds
I can see how their work does benefit people, but my corporate job clearly only benefits management and big stockholders. They don’t really need my help. Sometimes I get upset during discussions and have to walk away, else face a sleepless night. I don’t think I’ve changed anyone’s mind ever; maybe I’m going at it wrong? I believe that people are emotionally driven, not logically driven, and it’s really easy to prey on emotions. That’s what TV and politics are all about.
If we did try to go about making the government smaller, what laws do we take away? Every law benefits someone, yet also hurts someone else. Most people might not have much sympathy for the benefactors, but they do exist. For example I have no sympathy for oil companies and their tax write-offs, but many folks with no financial attachments other than the price of gas do (I know this, I’ve argued with them!) I like the concept of smaller government but I’m not sure how to go about it in a practical way.
That is the big issue with smaller government, I don’t think everyone could agree on any law to be taken off the books. I’d like to see states given far more control, which would give us a smaller federal government but bigger state governments. Even so, each state would likely have some different laws than others (as they do now) so people could choose where they live based on the principles of law in that state, if they wanted to.
My thoughts on which laws should be repealed won’t be popular. For example, the recent law that all children’s products must have proof of testing for lead is overreaching in my opinion. I know that lead is a serious health concern, and I know that were I a parent, I would not be buying things for my child that aren’t made in the US and of natural materials, most likely from smaller handmade origin businesses. (which is exactly who this law hurts) But that’s me. Many people want their government to protect them from every possible ill in life, a lot of which comes down to people not having to be responsible for themselves or their lives. I know that buying something painted from China or something plastic from China for my child is a dangerous idea, even if it is an extremely common practice. I understood that risk before all of the problems, and wouldn’t have given that stuff to my kids to begin with. I still wouldn’t, even with the regulations, because we wouldn’t know until after thousands or more of something was sold that maybe they faked that certification and it has lead in it after all.
The more the government steps in and “protects” us, the more people will not care if they make mistakes because they know someone is there to fix everything. Hence the frequent occurrence of unplanned pregnancies – people know if they accidentally get pregnant, they’ll be taken care of with food stamps and tax breaks, even cars and education should they need it. It lessens the impact of making a mistake, which lessens our ability to learn from said mistake.
Human beings have to suffer in order to grow and become something more than they are. The more laws we have that prevent and protect, the less people will grow or evolve.
SCREW YOU!! You’re one of those people that wants to make us think. Aren’t you?! Well I’m not going to.
I appreciate the challange. I never thought i’d agree with anythign the gun crowd has to say, but you know what, they want to protect the environment as much as I do.
I use think it was okay to buy things I didn’t really need (but desperately wanted) even if I had to whip out the trusty old visa or mastercard to do it. Buy now, pay later… neat and easy, right? I was so young and foolish. Luckily I married an accountant who set me straight and later I got into frugal, simple living anyway. I’m a much happier person now that I learned to appreciate the things I have instead of always looking for the next shiny new thingy-mabob.Also, there is so much pride and joy to be had in making your own things like soap, lotion and clothing and you appreciate them so much more.