This whole line of discussion is reminiscent of a newspaper column I wrote back in December:

In our nanny government we trust
By Harvey Benton Harrison III
Saturday, December 22, 2007

Listening to the radio the other day, a commentator remarked on how there are warning labels on nearly everything.
Evidently, he had been hanging Christmas lights when he noticed the white tag hanging off the end. He said mockingly, and I’m paraphrasing here, “You know, I’ve been handling extension cords for about 40 years, and if it were not for our government, it never would have occurred to me that they’re surging with hundreds of volts of electricity and enough amperage to kill you. Thank you, Washington, for pointing that out to me.”
Personally, I thought it funny … and all too true.
Have we become such a pathetic, imbecilic society that we need the government to spend billions of dollars a year to point out the obvious?
In the grocery store a couple of days ago, I finally took a moment to read the fine print on packaged meats. As it wasn’t written in Braille, I’m assuming it was intended for those with sight. You know what it said? “This product contains raw meat.” Really? You don’t say?
On a jar of peanuts was written, of all things, “This product was packaged at a facility that processes peanuts.” Thank God they confessed to that. I might’ve missed the word peanuts in bright yellow capital letters and the little peanut man with a top hat and cane.
Did you know a swimming pool is a drowning hazard, or that gasoline is explosive?
I’m glad our representatives and senators are spending our hard-earned money to pass laws ensuring we are aware of these things.
It doesn’t stop there, though.
Our dependence on the government to care for us from cradle to grave is far more wide-reaching than inane labels.
We rely on their benevolence in the birthing process of our children, the shots our babies need, what is deemed important in education – the failed No Child Left Behind Act being a completely separate rant altogether, how we can discipline our kids, who is good enough to make it into college … the list goes on and on.
As parents, isn’t it natural to care for the well-being and future of our sons and daughters? Do we need the government to dictate how?
Who amongst that gaggle of upper-crust lifelong politicians on Capitol Hill knows of practical educational needs anyway? Let’s get the basics mastered before teaching my ten-year-old son algebra and foreign languages.
Even as adults, Americans misguidedly trust the government to provide timely, adequate healthcare, save for our retirements because, God knows, banks don’t exist, and most recently, pay our mortgages when we get in over our heads.
We’ve even gone so far as ceding our privacy and liberties in the name of safety and security.
Please people, use some common sense and forethought. It’s not our government’s job to tuck us in every night, kiss us on the forehead, and turn on the nightlight. It’s our own.


I could've continued and been much more thorough, but as most newspaper columns are relegated to approximately 500 words, I had to cut it short. Still, there 'tis.