Another Fascistic story out of Chicago
This story is a little older but it shows the path down which Chicago is going. It is quite saddening to see our cities becoming increasingly regulatory and Fascistic. In this article, Fran Spielman writes about the incredible drive one alderman has to ban fatty foods from the streets of Chicago. This comes after a report listing Chicago as the one of the most obese cities in the United States. The alderman is attacking one specific type of fat, Trans-fatty acids. The proposed ban may only apply to restaurants yet it could very well continue into grocery stores. Many restaurant owners are protesting the ban arguing that it will raising costs significantly, driving out any marginal businessmen.
If the City Council can ban foie gras, a fatty liver delicacy that most Chicagoans have never tasted and cannot afford, why not ban a product that's known to cause obesity and heart disease? Chicago's most powerful alderman raised that question Wednesday, then began to answer it -- by thinking out loud.
Sometimes some people, especially politicians and bureaucrats, should think to themselves.
Comments (4)
Frank N Stein
Someone should tell this alderman that the greatest danger to man, and one of the biggest killers of all time, is government. Imagine if he could funnel this unrelenting drive to save us from ourselves, into eliminating a true evil!
I would like to coin a new term: fasctastic
As in, after enacting these fasctastic regulations, it is only a matter of time before Utopia becomes a reality.
Published: July 27, 2006 11:54 AM
tdl
The unfortunate reality is that Chicago has been like this for some time. To some the corruption is a badge, after all its tradition in Chicago. The political system in Chicago is unresponsive and highly centralized. A modest proposal, about two or so years ago, to double the number of alderman (from 50 to 100) was met with immediate resistance. Also, somewhere between ten to fifteen aldermen have been appointed by Daley II (so much for a weak executive.)
If you want a more recent story. The city council of Chicago wants to tag every dog in the city with RFID chips (currently a service that is offered by private companies) or they will confiscate the dog!
Published: July 27, 2006 1:04 PM
Brad
On broadbased message boards a few years ago, just after the cigarette settlement, I said that it was not long before food was attacked in the same manner, only to be poo-pooed that there was no possible connection.
It starts with laughter, then a sin tax, then "thinking out loud" about bans, and before long, extort... I mean "a settlement" that brings in $$$ into Statist coffers, and then a complete ban and criminalization of personal behavior.
I truly see us immersed in a dystopia right now, and it will only get worse. The true beast to slay is the $46 trillion accrual debt (due to social security and medicare) because so long as the government puts itself in the place to remedy people's illnesses, they will either have to tax the living daylights out of us to pay for it, it coercively change behaviors in the hopes that the payouts will be minimized.
Published: July 27, 2006 3:34 PM
Ryan
People who want to control other people's lives get into government. What better way to impose your will on others than by gunpoint?
Yet, we the people, fall for this claptrap every year by voting these hoodlums into office.
Don't vote. You'll only encourage them.
Published: July 30, 2006 12:00 PM