Don't Tread On Me

As morning turned into afternoon today, I enjoyed some practical freedom.  I got in my car and drove to lunch.  Because it was my own car, and not a bus or a train, I had the freedom not even to know exactly where I was going to go to lunch when I left.  There was no "right line" to take, because I could go wherever I wanted.  Indeed, had I turned one way and decided to go to some restaurant in the other direction, I would just have had to turn around.

When I got to the restaurant, I had a plethora of choices for my meal, including four different sizes of drink.  The restaurant, on this exceedingly nice North Central Texas day, was actually nearly too cold for me.  Ultimately, I decided the inconvenience of my napkin blowing away was worse than the very minimal discomfort of being a degree or two to the chilly side, so I dined at an indoor table.

Had I so desired (I don't) I could have gone outside and smoked a cigarette either with or after my meal.  I could have gone to a restaurant that served alcohol and had a nice adult beverage.  Indeed, I could have chosen to go to a 7-11 or QT or other convenience store or service station, grab some You-Nuke-It burrito, and spent my lunch at some store, instead of eating in a restaurant.

The Democrats want to take all of that freedom away from me.  From bans on salt, trans-fat, and large sodas (the "small" I got today would have been too big for Nanny Bloomberg), to unrealistic 54 - 55 MPG CAFE standards, to the crippling of the energy industry, everything I did today just going to lunch is under assault by the Democrat party.

If the Democrats have their way, I won't be able to drive wherever I want on lunch- my vehicle will be some all electric thing with barely enough juice to get me home, after having charged all day at way-too-expensive charging stations my employer will be forced to provide.  Instead, I'll have to take a bus or train.  In Texas in the Summer, that means I'll have little practical choice but to bring my own lunch or eat at the invariably-over-priced cafe in my office building; no one wants to work next to someone who had to go for even a short walk in the Texas summer.  That also means my choices in when and where to go to lunch are limited, as I can only go where the bus or train goes, plus a short walking distance, and I can only go when the bus or train goes there.

If the Democrats have their way, I won't be able to choose whatever I want to eat.  Trans-fats and sodium will be banned, meaning any food I do choose will be largely tasteless.  I will not be able to choose whatever size drink I want, I'll be stuck with whatever happens to meet the government regulation.

For the reasons above, the very idea of choosing not to spend my whole lunch hour obtaining and eating lunch goes right out the window; or requires much more advance planning.  Indeed, the service station probably would not be allowed to sell the You-Nuke-It burrito.

As for the restaurant, should I be able to get to one, being too cold?  Only if it's Winter.  When electricity prices "necessarily sky-rocket," as our illustrious SCOAMT once said, restaurants will pass on the additional cost of cooling and heating their establishment to me, the consumer, as well as settling for less warm in the Winter, and less cool in the Summer.

We often don't think of the little things that we do every day being examples of freedom, but they are.  The Democrats need for absolute control doesn't change just because it's your lunch hour, they want to control you then, too.