Picking and Choosing Your Freedoms

WSU Young Democrat officer Jimmy Blue recently opined in the Daily Evergreen that he was against the recent New York City trans-fat ban because:

I want to be free to eat what I chose; if something tastes good, I am likely going to eat it. But I am not going to eat trans fats every day because they are unhealthy. If people want to be unhealthy, that is their choice. There are no second-hand effects of trans fats, so they should not be banned. People need to take responsibility for their own health instead of being forced into it.

I happen to agree with Jimmy. But I also want to be free to shop at Wal-Mart if I choose, something Mr. Blue disagrees with.

Ah, but Blue might say, Wal-Mart affects the community negatively. Are you going to honestly tell me that trans-fat doesn't? Health care is a national crisis. People in poor health cause all of our insurance rates to be higher and put a burden on Medicaid and Medicare, thus raising our taxes as well.

It never fails to amuse me when liberals start flirting with libertarianism, especially when confronted with the excesses of the Nanny State of their own creation. It is a philosophical minefield fraught with peril.

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