Like most humans, Mayor Becker has vices. And like most liberals, he thinks there is a government solution to his problems. "Being a smoker,I'm for a statewide ban" (on smoking in public places) he says. "It might also help push him to quit smoking or at least cut back" he said in a Journal Times article today.
I have vices also. But they are my problem, not yours. Or at least they ought to be.
This is a key difference between liberals and conservatives. Liberals believe in collective responsibility while conservatives believe in individual responsibility.
I wish Mayor Becker well in his battle with his cigarette addiction. But it should be his battle, not yours or mine.
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11 comments:
Thanks, Denis, for giving a clear object lesson on how conservatives understand themselves.
It is, of course, factually inaccurate and ideologically driven but, hey, Horace Mann would teach the majority to just follow the will of corporate leadership and corporate policy anyhow.
Coincidentally, I'm running an excellent movie this weekend on Cable Access Racine channel 25 (CAR25) called "Man, Freedom, and Government." It runs a bit over twenty minutes and will be on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night at 10:00.
Right on Denis!
Myself I would rather see Becker fight his addiction to No Bid Contracts and wasteful arts spending.
A law allowing citizens to punch bureaucrats who smoke might likewise deter his habit.
I'm certainly willing to do my part...
-jjg
DailyScoff.com
I was scratching my head on this one too – “I smoke so it would help me if someone passed laws that made me curtail my smoking”. Should I take this approach to my farting?
You can always tell when someone is a blowhard who enjoys the sound of his own voice - or the look of his own prose - when he says things like "factually inaccurate". Mr. Anonymous 9:05, can anything possibly be "fictitiously inaccurate"?
BTW, is anonymous 9:05 Bigfoot from the RJT blogs - here is Bigfoot's response to the thread about Burlington Bob:
"So, a conservative who doesn't understand liberalism and spouts the same old simplistic republican jingoism--what's new? Personal responsibility is not just a conservative trait-- it is share by liberals also. Only liberals tend to extend that personal responsibility to helping their fellow citizens who are less fortunate, rather then limiting that personal responsibility to only themselves!"
Yes, a new vision: collective personal responsibility.
I overeat (and thus probably increase the cost to society of my future healthcare) so it would help me if someone passed laws that made me curtail my eating.
Where will it end??
The hypocrisy of (primarily) the left on the whole cigarette issue is unbelievable!
I'm calling their bluff - If you liberals really want to reduce the risk of health problems from cigarettes...MAKE THEM ILLEGAL!
Oh, but what's that you say...then we won't have the millions (billions?) in tax revenue from those who chose to smoke the little cancer sticks to fund all kinds of other liberal pork projects?
Wonder if cigarettes being illegal would be sufficient motivation for our weakminded Mayor to finally quit?
Hey Mayor Becker - I'm a woman! I quit completely cold turkey after 20+ years of smoking. Haven't had a smoke since and never will again! It's not just personal responsibility - IT'S HAVING A STRONG MIND AND WILLPOWER! How disappointing to hear that our Mayor doesn't even have the conviction of character to quit smoking unless forced. How sad!
Here's the way I see it - until our Mayor exhibits the strength of character to quit himself, he has no right to try to impose his will (or in his case, lack of will) on others!
Maybe Becker should focus the remainder of his administration on enforcing the laws we already have, say, for example, the ones against murder, robbery, assault, drugs, and all the other little annoyances of living in our fair city.
Once he has those under control, we'll entertain a new crusade - and not until.
Liberals depend on government to make decisions for themselves. That is why they are liberals. They don't trust themselves to conduct their own life properly. Nor do they trust anyone else to do so either. If Becker could live his life like he would like to, he might find it OK to leave the rest of us alone.
Time for a new mayor anyway.
".....This is a key difference between liberals and conservatives. Liberals believe in collective responsibility while conservatives believe in individual responsibility...."
The key difference is that the 2 parties are atheists in different ways. The Republicans reject the Gospel for selfish motives and greed; the Dems for freedom of vice...
Mayor becker has no more say in statewide bans for anything than you or I. He is the the mayor of Racine.
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