Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Mother, May I?


“Take a step backward.”
“Mother, May I?”
You’ve probably played or observed that game when you were in elementary school. The premise was that no activity could be initiated until you requested the permission of “Mother.” If you failed to seek the approval of the “Mother,” you were prohibited from taking the action, and indeed, would be penalized. Isn’t it wonderful that during your formative years, you were being prepared to be a willing and docile member of the Nanny State? I was doing some research Sunday afternoon, and my mind wandered off into the weeds…a common occurrence. I tried to identify at least one element of my life that is not impacted by a law, rule, regulation, ordinance or covenant. There may be some, but I was unable to recall them.
You have probably seen a picture of Gulliver when he was restrained by the Lilliputians. There lies the big fellow with multiple lines restricting his movements. He’s apparently conscious and aware, but he is incapable of performing the simplest task without the permission of the “little people.” Jonathan Swift has been rightly celebrated as a brilliant political satirist, and the enduring nature of his work is made clear by the germaneness of the Gulliver word picture. His 18th Century work maintains its resonance today. All around us we can find evidence that we are being controlled by the little people. “You must do this,” “you may not do that,””buy a license, pay a fee,” and be certain to read the fine print are seemingly the sum and substance of our daily lives.
While President Obama pleads for a more civil tone in Washington, his bureaucratic minions are forcing us to say “please” every time we wish to do something for ourselves. My experience has taught me that forced politeness or civility often leads to smoldering resentment. Compliance and conformity with rules and regulations consume valuable chunks of our time and patience as we wait on “hold” for a live human voice to resolve our issue. We angrily attempt to decipher where our problem fits into the inadequate menu delivered by the monotonic voice as we stumble through the numerical options she offers. Even though we feel detached and insignificant as we struggle through the bureaucratic maze, we also know that the tentacles, the strings are real. We suspect that we have become marinated marionettes…in a pickle with strings firmly attached.
Do this, do that, don’t do this, and by all means never do that. At times it seems as if I spend my life saying “Excuse me” as I continually bump into the Nanny as I attempt to live my life, my way. Liberty should not be adorned with strings, chains and cables. Liberty should be packaged with ribbons and those clever little stickers. Strings, chains and fetters are not the essence of liberty. They are the antithesis of freedom. It is past time for us to sever the annoying threads of too-big government. The moment has come for us to assert our natural God-given rights and insist that Big Brother, the Nanny State, Mother and the whole damned controlling governmental family leave us alone. It is time that we pay the COST for liberty and freedom. Cut Our Strings Today…the cost is commitment and perseverance. The payoff is freedom.


1 comment:

  1. "It is past time for us to sever the annoying threads of too-big government. The moment has come for us to assert our natural God-given rights and insist that Big Brother, the Nanny State, Mother and the whole damned controlling governmental family leave us alone."

    Sounds like a good argument for secession. I'm not saying Ohioans are perfect (e.g., the statewide smoking ban), but we'd be a whole lot more sensible than the martinets in D.C.

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