A Good (Bad) Example Of Watermelon Socialism

It appears I'm not the only one decrying the actions of Watermelon Environmentalists. Bruce at No Looking Backwards tells us the story of a blatant Watermelon Environmentalist (heretofore referred to as WE's), expressing her dismay over people's freedom of choice to drive what they want, even if it isn't fuel efficient.

As Bruce writes, “Please check your freedom of choice at the door.”

This weekend in my own neighborhood I observed one guy driving a Maserati with his top down. I counted three Hummers and I spied one couple pulling a powerboat behind a Cadillac Escalade. Far as I can tell, if Americans had any common sense, such behavior would have been banned years ago. Either that, or taxed into oblivion.

(Emphasis added by Bruce)

The quote above comes from Bonnie Erbe, a Scripps Howard columnist. It also shows she has forgotten one of the founding tenets of America, the freedom to choose. That she would so willy-nilly throw it away just because she is offended by someone else's choice of motor vehicle shows her for the socialist she is: Green on the outside, Red on the inside. You see, she knows better than the rest of us what we need to do.

She can go screw herself.

While she makes some exceptions for heavy equipment and tractor-trailers, she believes the rest of us should be buying a government approved, politically correct vehicle. She comes right out and says we have no common sense. Unfortunately for her most people have far more common sense than she.

People will change their behavior, their buying patterns only when it benefits them. Forcing something like that upon the American public will cause nothing but grief, discontent, and finally hatred and rebellion, even if it only takes the form of driving large land vehicles that guzzle fuel despite a government edict. She wants to use the stick, not the carrot. Bonnie makes the mistake most socialists make: trying to ramrod changes the people aren't going to like, nor put up with. One should appeal to the people's individual best interests, not the collective good. Frankly, too often the 'collective good' as it is understood by socialists of all stripes isn't good for anyone...except the socialists in power. And we've seen where that path leads, more than once.

Another quote from Bonnie Erbe, and Bruce's retort:

But given our present situation, the fact that people could be allowed to drive Maseratis as street vehicles or to spend $1,500 (as one newspaper recently recounted the cost) to fill up the tank of a power boat while the rest of us can barely afford $4 for regular gas, is obscene.

What's obscene is the fact there are meddling, socialist busybodies like Ms. Erbe here, who think the government should have the power to prevent American citizens from choosing how to spend their own money and to dictate to us which recreational activities will and will not be permitted.

Indeed. This is something government should not even consider. Government is barely competent to run itself, let alone everybody else's lives. They tried it before. (Remember the 18th Amendment, i.e. Prohibition? It didn't work at all and one of the major unintended consequences of it was the large boost it gave to organized crime. They certainly didn't see that coming.)

Perhaps Ms. Erbe and her fellow WE's should rethink their positions. That's assuming they think at all.