Individual Responsibility

In the news today, officials in NYC are having their first meeting to discuss the banning of trans fat from all 24,000+ restaurants in the city. The Nanny State strikes again! First the Bronx lawsuits by two teenagers attempting to extort settlement from McDonalds who allegedly contributed to their obesity, next the city of Chicago discussed portion limits, and now the trans fat debate. The common denominator here is the arrogance of the Left robbing choice from the individual and arrogantly assuming that Government can better make it for them. Ironic considering their furor over the NSA Wiretapping, apparently taking away individual rights only applies to terrorist phone calls. Ridiculous…

The bottom line is that our society has completely forgotten the concept of individual responsibility. Everyone else is to blame: the evil fast food companies, tobacco companies, alcohol companies, and so on. What this neglects is the simple tenant that demand drives supply: these companies simply would not exist if there wasn’t a market need for their products. People want to eat fast food (sometimes lots of it), people choose to light up, and people crack open the beer cab. It is their choice to do so….simple as that. However, if negative effects arise, there is a staunch refusal to accept responsibility and rather they choose to place blame.

Here is a quick list for the people who feel they can partake with abandon yet not accept the consequences of their actions.

1) If you eat fast food you are going to get fat and have health issues
2) If you eat abnormally large portions of food, you will become obese
3) If you smoke for 30 years, chances are you will develop lung cancer and die
4) If you light alcohol on fire you will burn yourself
5) If you drink and drive, you can die and if you get caught you will be arrested
6) If you load a gun and fire it, anyone in the line of fire will be injured or worse be killed

And the list goes on and on….my point is that as a society we need to start taking responsibility for our actions and stop blaming others (e.g. Corporate America, racism, Bush, or the “Government”) for our problems. You are responsible for YOU, others are not to blame.