You just can’t make this stuff up …

tony | September 14, 2012

Remember when they said coffee would make you have heart attacks? Remember all those “coming epidemics” where the vaccine killed more people than the flu did? ATCs (3 wheel cycles) killed around 78 people over several decades so they were banned while cars kill 50,000 people a year and go on being sold.

We could go on and on with examples – but hhheeeeerrrre comes big brother once again to protect us from ourselves !

No soft drinks over 16 oz can be sold … it’s law and for our health !

Well – the new “law” takes effect in 6 months from now. Unless a judge knocks it down.

It isn’t what you think it’s about –

this new “law” is not about obesity or health
or do-gooders doing what they think is good …

It’s about TAXES ! (more on that in a minute)

It;s amazing to see what was once promoted as healthy – while the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other extreme … we are caught in the middle.

“Seeking to reduce runaway obesity rates…”

That is how the story in the New York Times began about approval of a ban on selling soft drinks over 16oz in size in the city.

That includes restaurants, food carts and movie theaters.

You just can’t make this stuff up.

Maybe Ayn Rand and Orwell books would have been more popular if they used soft drinks and candy bars as symbols of totalitarianism rather than the obvious.

Here’s the hypocrisy:

You can’t buy a 32 oz drink – but you can buy TWO 16 oz drinks.

This is a more clever form of prohibition.

And therein lies the rub – You can still get your 32 oz but you have to buy two more expensive sizes. Which means MORE SALES TAX. That’s the real reason for this. Go ahead and ask the politicians – they usually justify controlling activities by raising taxes. Gasoline … cigarettes … whatever … they have said it themselves.

As a family, we usually drink water with a meal – even in restaurants. If we get a soft drink because we need a little bit of an “up” while out or running around town on errands – we get a big size and share it. It’s more convenient to handle just one cup … we can control the consumption of the kids not to get too much … and best of all – it’s a HECK OF A LOT CHEAPER than getting several smaller cups !

You pay for the cup and the ice more than the actual drink. Hamburger joints make more money on drinks than the hamburgers (percentage of profit) … free refills on fountain drinks came into vogue and were a profit point competing with rival restaurants. The refills really aren’t free – you paid for it already.

So now the government of NYC can “be in kahoots” with retailers so they get more profit while the city gets more tax profits. Hide it behind a health issue and it’s the perfect legal racket against their own citizens.

Prohibition is embraced by criminals.

Take a look at the wonderful movie “Key Largo” with Bogart, Bacall, E.G. Robinson and the rest of a great cast. In the film while a hurricane makes the organized crime thugs nervous, Rocky tells one of his henchmen to talk about something … he begins to fondly reminisce about prohibition. How it will be back in just a few years since WWII is on like it was passed during WWI. How the gangs would “work together” this time and not screw up their gravy train.

That’s just one example.

My conclusion ? Or should I say “the historical perspective”:

Any form of prohibition becomes law because someone (who is corrupt) will make money. It is passed by duping the voters by wrapping it in something that appears as noble.

The result is more crime, more bureaucracy and the exact opposite to what was promised to the public who were fooled into voting for it.

Like in the poster to the right – this poster basically says that if sales of liquor continues, her baby will not be “pure” … so is the mother feeding liquor to her baby? What is this poster actually saying? Logic doesn’t matter – only the appearance of doing good.

Too much of anything – good or bad – is bad for you. But personal responsibility should be the rule. Individual freedom is our foundation. The more the freedom, the more responsibility is required by the individual. Morality cannot be legislated.