Wednesday, July 23, 2008

"What's the Matter With Chicago? and Seattle and New York and Boston...?"

Reason magazine ranks the worst nanny-state cities in America:

From New York to Los Angeles, from the People’s Republic of Cambridge to the west Texas town of El Paso, city governments are using and abusing their authority to tell the rest of us how to live. Two decades of healthy economies and dropping crime rates have given many city councils the luxury of worrying about less urgent issues, from the last wisps of secondhand smoke to the discomfort of fatted geese. So even while self-styled progressives in Seattle, San Francisco, and Boston take a more relaxed approach to sex and pot, they’ve adopted increasingly restrictive laws regarding alcohol, tobacco, and junk food. It may be easier to smoke a joint today than it was 20 years ago (except in New York City—see below), but it’s getting much more difficult to enjoy a legal cigarette.


Is your city on the list?

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17 Comments:

Blogger Cham said...

City governments are enacting laws that may restrict their own residents. The residents vote in the government officials and impact the legislation enacted. Therefore, the majority of the residents support the new laws. People who live outside the jurisdictions wouldn't be impacted unless they choose to cross a border. If you don't like the laws you don't have to visit.

7:56 AM, July 23, 2008  
Blogger Jason said...

Cham, I believe you miss the point that even if 99% of the people support this type of legislation it doesn't give them the right to impose their preferences on the other 1%. A constitutional government is meant to protect from even tyranny of the majority.

Jason

8:36 AM, July 23, 2008  
Blogger Larry J said...

The nannyism has two broad roots:

1. "If I don't like it, you can't have it."

2. "You're too stupid to make your own decisions so we'll make laws to prevent you from doing things we don't like."

Both are examples of extreme arrogance.

8:45 AM, July 23, 2008  
Blogger # 56 said...

And both are Bloomberg campaign planks!

9:51 AM, July 23, 2008  
Blogger Danny said...

In the Peoples' Socialist Republic of Ann Arbor, our august City Council, ( all 12 are democrats, i.e. libtards), has spent the last 2 months debating whether citizens ought to be allowed to raise chickens in their backyards.
They decided that up to 4 hens per household would be allowed, subject to one gettingwrittenand notsrised permisson slips from your neighbors!!! Of course- there is anti-male discrimination involved in this project too. Roosters are not allowed!!! :)
Whiel such important matters such as backyard chickens are being debated upon, the local cops have to lay off officers due to a shrinking budget etc. But who cares? It is more important to waste city council time debating about allowing chickens in backyards within city limits.

9:57 AM, July 23, 2008  
Blogger Unknown said...

cham --

"The residents vote in the government officials and impact the legislation enacted. Therefore, the majority of the residents support the new laws."

That does not at all follow, and you know it. Gov officials can and quite often do enact things that they and only they want done and the citizens are left with trying to oust them and then (even harder) trying to undo their now regulations.

10:47 AM, July 23, 2008  
Blogger Jason said...

Cham,

Doesn't that logic also apply to zoning laws that prohibit certain ethnic groups from living in a town?

See the problem yet?

10:57 AM, July 23, 2008  
Blogger Unknown said...

Can someone PLEASE go to this link http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/intellectual-dishonesty-on-sex-bias/#comment-172174

I posted some comments as "William" on a discussion at the New York Times about discrimination against women in some fields of science. All I said, pretty much, and you can read it, is that it's hypocritical to be only concerned from discrimination against women in education when women now predominate education.

A bunch of people responded with comments like "You're just trying to make women shutup" or "your logic makes no sense". I would really like a second opinion, maybe some people would even like to comment on the issue at the NY Times?

Thanks

11:34 AM, July 23, 2008  
Blogger Mike said...

The residents vote in the government officials and impact the legislation enacted. Therefore, the majority of the residents support the new laws.

That doesn't make them moral or necessary. Our own history shows that democracy is no more moral in its respect of the life, liberty and dignity of those on "the wrong side of the vote" than most other countries have been toward political minorities.

3:15 PM, July 23, 2008  
Blogger Soccer Dad said...

With a high but declining murder rate, Baltimore City's City council recently turned its attention to more pressing matters:
banning plastic bags at grocery stores.

The measure failed, but not due to lack of effort.

3:25 PM, July 23, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

sorry, billy. Ain't no freakin' way anyone in their "right" mind could get a fair shake diving into the middle of a bunch of liberal female NYT readers trying to have any sort of discussion.

6:29 PM, July 23, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I know I may come across as an extreme wacko about this, but I see freedoms being taken away daily. I see it increasing at an increasing rate. I see a point coming where there may be some trouble. It may not be America against the rest of the world as some have said, even written books about.

It will be those to the right of center in America and parts of Australia against the rest of the world.

7:08 PM, July 23, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My fiance and I just bought a house in Wauwatosa, a Milwaukee suburb. It is illegal to put yard waste in the trash. It is illegal to park on the street overnight. It's probably illegal to shoot the rabbits that inhabit my back yard and are waiting for my tomatoes to ripen, but I'm not going to ask first.

7:53 PM, July 23, 2008  
Blogger Unknown said...

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5:07 AM, June 08, 2009  
Blogger Serket said...

It seems like liberals want to ban cigarettes, but allow marijuana. I don't understand why they are treated differently. Utah did not make the list and I'm surprised San Diego did so poorly in the ranking.

Billy: I posted some comments as "William" on a discussion at the New York Times about discrimination against women in some fields of science.

Here is a more direct link to your comment (#71): http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/intellectual-dishonesty-on-sex-bias/?apage=3#comment-18712

I thought you did a good job of defending yourself and the attacks on you didn't seem too significant.

5:34 PM, September 28, 2009  

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