Proud to be Pro-Choice (Though not in the Way You Think)

I love bacon cheeseburgers.  I honestly do.  Give me a solid bacon cheeseburger covered in ketchup and mayo with a side of fries drenched in salt along with a frosty beverage and then a strawberry shake for dessert, and you have the making of my “Death Row Meal”. 

The problem with those foods, however, is that they are not very healthy.  Trust me, my wife is a dietitian, and I am well aware of what is healthy and what is not.  The bun is lathered in butter, the burgers is more than likely not lean, the cheese is probably made from whole milk, the ketchup is basically red liquid salt, the mayo is just horrible, the fries are nothing but a side of salt and fried calories, my frosty beverage (whether a soda or a beer) is filled with carbohydrates and empty calories, and the strawberry shake is a sugar lover’s dream.  And don’t even get started on bacon’s role in the clogging of my arteries.

But you know what?  I will still gladly eat it all of it and love every minute of the experience.  Why?  Because I can. 

Do I understand the unhealthiness in foods like this?  Sure I do.  In reality, how can I not?  Not only does my spouse educate me about what I am eating, but the media, the government, and even the First Lady is concerned about how bad certain foods are for us.  Trust me, I get it.

However, I also get something else:  With the liberty to make my own choices comes the responsibility to choose wisely. 

With this understanding I know that if I am going to eat like this then I probably need to get up each and every morning, tie up the laces on my running shoes, and hit the pavement. 

In fact, it is no one’s responsibility but mine to choose wisely, and the converse is that the consequences of my choices will be of my own making.  Thus, I don’t need, or want, someone making my choices for me in regards to what I can eat.  Or where I can worship.  Or how I educate my children.

My choices are just that – my choices.

For some reason, though, the left and/or the government believe they can take away my right to choose in many different areas of life.  For example, recently a state assemblyman in New York proposed banning the use of salt in New York restaurants.  He claimed it was about “healthcare costs and death”. 

Really?  We can keep healthcare costs down and prevent death by simply banning salt?  What if I want nothing more to eat really salty foods all day?  Isn’t that my personal choice?

Additionally, many states and municipalities are regulating things like what types of food can be sold in school vending machines, laws are already on the books requiring that children must wear a helmet if riding their bike, and suggestions are being made about whether or not to ban smoking in public housing areas (i.e. apartment complexes) including personal units.

As an aside, do I think that kids need to be taught by parents to make better food choices while also encouraging them to wear helmets when on their bikes?  Absolutely.  Do I think smoking is harmful and a disgusting habit?  Of course I do.

In my mind, personal and parental responsibility are far more important than greater regulation and government mandates.

Along those lines, does the government really need to be the one to decide these types of things for me?  Do I need a nanny state to mandate my person choices or the choices of my children?  In the end, where does this stop?  Will it ever stop?

Yet this is not a new way of thinking – this type of control grab has been going on for decades.

Think about this: Liberals have long said a woman deserves a right to choose what happens to her baby while it is in the womb – reproductive (ahem, abortion) rights are a foundational plank in their platform.  It is all about choice for them. 

But yet the left is also all about public education – an area in which the government gives little or no choice to parents about what school a child can attend based solely upon where they live. 

In reality, liberals are against school choice solutions that could potentially help students achieve their dreams by having the opportunity to attend excellent charter or private schools that are sometimes right down the street.

Additionally, the left has long been against an individual’s choice to exercise their right to bear arms.  Yet they wholeheartedly think that the government should be able to mandate that every single person in this country be covered by health insurance.  Where is my choice then?

In the end, liberals want to take away many of our choices in many different areas of our lives, and elected government officials at every level are doing nothing to stop this from happening.  And there is seemingly no end to this trend.

So what do those who believe in a limited role of government and individual liberty and freedom do?  How do we slow this statist train down and eventually stop it?

Simply, I believe it comes down to identifying local folks who believe in personal responsibility, freedom, and limited government, electing them to public office, and then holding them to the principles they espouse.

This means electing school board members who are more concerned with test scores than schools taking over as parents.  It means electing city council people who are more concerned with encouraging local private sector growth over expanding the municipal code.  And it means electing state legislators who want to create jobs rather than take away freedom and choice from hard working Americans.

This process must start locally first.  Then it will gradually work its way to the state and national level.

And in reality, the road to decreasing the size and scope of government, while also limiting the reach of left-leaning groups that are intent on making our country a statist nation, is a long and hard one.  Until we have the right people in place to change they system, we must hold current elected officials accountable for the direction they are taking this country.

To that end, and to my knowledge, we still have the choice to exercise our right to make our voices heard.  If we don’t act now, however, even that choice may not be around much longer.