Via Drudge.  Its so damn predictable, a handful of kids complained, and now they're banning tag.  They still allow running, I'm amazed some soulless lawyer hasn't made them ban that yet, but the kids can't chase each other, which of course sucks some of the fun out of children's lives. Sadly, this sort of schoolyard issue is a microcosm of what we see in the adult world in the Nanny State.

Its a self fulfilling prophesy, a small group of dumb people, kids in this case, can't behave themselves, so they ban everyone from engaging in the behavior.   Then as a result, further down the road, because you've sucked the joy out of the rest of the kids lives, they don't play anymore or engage in sedentary activities until those get banned, and then a number of them get lazy and overweight. From there, the cycle continues, and people start calling for bans on fatty foods. 

This is the poisonous nature of the Nanny State Ban Brigades.  Rather than either help or discipline those who are abusing rights and privileges, they impose a blanket ban on said right or privilege, whether they are motivated by laziness or a twisted sense of 'fairness', seeking to punish someone without actually punishing them. 

The problem is, once you ban one thing, the consequences related to that ban, combined with a culture that accepts banning as a standard practice to address an issue make it much more likely that more bans will be used to address societal problems.  Societies refusal to confront problems directly is largely what is driving the Nanny State. In the longterm, this sort of action will begin to eat away at liberties that do matter.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 10:03 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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