If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

This is yet another great post from Nathan, in this case covering a subject near and dear to my heart – the Land of Fruits and Nuts.

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Upon reading this, my emotions are mixed.

Sacramento - The influential lobby group Consumer Electronics Assn. is fighting what appears to be a losing battle to dissuade California regulators from passing the nation's first ban on energy-hungry big-screen televisions.

At first, what I felt was disgust: yet another way for (soon to be) Uncle “Big Brother” Sam to control me, an American citizen, and force me to do/have/buy what he wishes. However, a second later I had a brilliant thought. Perhaps this really was for the good of the people. After all, California is in the midst of just about every crises known to the modern US state, so much so, that it has been referred to as a possible “failed state”. Clearly, “desperate times call for desperate measures”, right? The old adage must have some meaning to be passed down through all those parental lectures. But then, I came across this in the article:

On Tuesday, executives and consultants for the Arlington, Va., trade group asked members of the California Energy Commission to instead let consumers use their wallets to decide whether they want to buy the most energy-saving new models of liquid-crystal display and plasma high-definition TVs.

What? What is this? Let consumers decide with their wallets? What revolutionary concept is this? But of course, instead of banning a product, why not just tax the product? No one will argue that these large televisions are “better” (in terms of power consumption) than these smaller, more energy efficient ones. However, if an individual works a hard, honest days’ work and wishes to use the proverbial fruits of his labor to watch the Pats take the Super Bowl in 55” of HD glory, by all means, I say we let him. Does this mean I am advocating a tax on these “power guzzlers”? In all honesty, no. I think the only “tax” this man should pay for his “power guzzling television” should be to his electric company. In any case, far be it from me to question the all-knowing lawmaker. Clearly, this idea of consumers deciding with their wallets must not be happening, right? They must be spending every last penny they have to make sure they get the least energy efficient model possible, right? That’s why we need Uncle “Big Brother” Sam to step in and save the environment and the stupid citizens from themselves. Oh, wait…

"Voluntary efforts are succeeding without regulations," said Doug Johnson, the association's senior director for technology policy.

Oh? Odd. Does this mean that the “stupid consumer” may not be so stupid after all? Could we, as citizens, possibly be capable of making an environmentally friendly choice completely on our own?! Clearly, this is an age of miracles. Again, I believe represents another piece of “Trojan Horse” legislation delivered by our government management team. Sure, saving the environment is a good thing. Whether or not one believes that global warming exists is irrelevant here. This is just about being good stewards and taking care of what we have. Even those that do not believe in global warming cannot argue that it is good to save energy when we can, to invest in cleaner, more efficient technologies. The consumers have shown that they do, in fact, care about their environments, and have already shown that they are capable of making an “eco-friendly” choice without any government intervention. Why, then, do they insist on making more and more laws to govern what clearly is not in any need of governing? Again, from the article:

Too much government interference could hamstring industry innovation and prove expensive to manufacturers and consumers, he (Doug Johnson) warned.

Another novel concept brought to us today. Of course too much government involvement can hamstring an industry, and for those who “don’t know”, once you come out of your rock, I invite you to go to that glowing thing with a keyboard and type in “General Motors”. Read for about five minutes, and I’m sure you and I will be on the same page. This isn’t about helping the environment, or even “solving the energy crisis”. This is about power, plain and simple. There is no other reason for legislature to be passed on this issue. The populous is already moving in the direction that has been deemed “good”. It would be one thing if these were causing widespread black/brown outs, etc. But they are not. Simply put, Uncle Big Brother Sam wishes to take one more freedom away from the citizen. As previously mentioned, I firmly believe that if you work an honest day’s work, you should by all means be able to take your check and buy that 55” inch behemoth. As to Uncle Big Brother Sam, I’d offer you this bit of advice: Focus your powers on the ones that are spending other people’s money, not the ones that are spending their own. (I know, one’s own money. Such a concept). In closing, I believe I could sum up my view on this entire article with this one good old fashioned New England quip:

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

---TNJ