Nanny State set to Regulate Salt in Foods

As if our overbearing government hasn’t intruded enough into our lives lately, the FDA has (quietly) announced plans to regulate the amount of salt in our food.  The super smart and clairvoyant folks at the Food and Drug Administration have determined that Americans are eating too much salt, and they must take action.  Thank God we have our government looking out for our best interests.  How mankind survived before federal regulation is beyond explanation.

How the FDA will regulate this essential mineral, taste enhancer, and preservative is anyone’s guess.  Most likely, the FDA will issue pages of regulations dictating the maximum amount of salt in every single food item churned out by the food industry.  It matters not that I can grab my readily available salt shaker and add salt to my salt-deficient grocery store food.  No.  Other people have determined that I don’t need all that salt, and by God they are not going to let this travesty befall me and my fellow Americans.

I don’t care what reason the FDA trots out to justify this intrusion into my dinner table – it falls well beyond the scope of their responsibility.  My preference for choosing salty foods trumps any dreamed-up responsibility the government believes it has to protect my health.  Either I am free to express my preferences at the grocery store or we have entered a new paradigm where government is free to impose its preferences upon me in the name of: safety, health, ______, etc.  Hence, I am no longer free, but subject to the whims of a benevolent dictator.

If you should care to leave a comment for the FDA regarding this new idiotic proposal, you may do so here.

Now, please pass the salt.

Few words, Big Meaning

I spotted this bumper sticker on the way home from the pool today.  It was displayed on the back of a Land Rover and simply read: Government – Is Not Your Mommy.

I began to consider the meaning of those words and the implication.  I quietly shuttered at the thought.  I also wondered how other folks in America view our government today.  Do a majority of Americans hold this parental view of the state?  I surely hope not, for many reasons.

First, government is not properly equipped to be our mommy – a parent who makes it her business to fuss over every detail of our lives as we grow and mature into adults.  Mothers excel at ensuring our safety and well-being.  They nurture in ways fathers can’t, and make decisions on the fly that directly affect our liberty.  “No! You can’t have that ice cream” and  “No! You can’t stay up to midnight watching that movie.”  Mothers know intrinsically what’s best for us.  They are a cornucopia of love, kindness, and discipline.  Government? Not so much.

Additionally, good mothers know that one day their child will turn into a man or woman and begin a new life, separate from the mother.  The mother knows this and prepares the child for that day when he/she will become self-supportive and independent, relying on the training the mother has provided over the years.  Government knows only dependence.  Government (programs) is like a drug, and once an individual has tasted the forbidden fruit, a lifelong and destructive relationship has probably begun.  The addict knows that government will always be there and will never tell them no, even when “no” could save the addict’s life.  

Government ought not be our mother.  Let’s keep that special role in its proper place.