Freedom is Lost to the Sound of Thunderous Applause

And so it begins, or well comes to a head rather. Once again our wonderful free country is giving up freedoms out of fear. This time apparently, it isn't even a real enemy. The liberal fear of destroying the earth one polar bear at a time has led to the nation wide guilt fest if you don't recycle. Of course guilt seems to enjoy company, so now everyone must be forced to feel guilty for not saving the polar bears.

The last time I checked, the whole point of a free country was that we were able to do what we want as long as we are not infringing on the rights of others. This would imply otherwise:

"There are also new federal and state proposals to snoop on citizens in our own homes. California is considering a plan to police the temperature settings on residents' thermostats. The feds are checking on the flush capacity of our toilets and the kinds of light bulbs we use."

I really don't feel that the temperature at which I set my thermostat should be subject to ridicule or fines, or for that matter inspection in the first place. Whatever happened to the 4th amendment? Why don't they go ahead and just make sure we aren't breaking any other laws while they are at it. Perhaps we need legislation on what TV shows you should allow your children to watch. Maybe they should check our pantries and refrigerators while they are at it to make sure we are only eating foods deemed healthy by the state. Wouldn't it just be wonderful if the state were able to protect us from every poor decision we could possibly ever make. Obviously people are not capable of making the good decisions on their own, we need to be forced to do so.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that trying to respect and protect the environment is a bad thing in and of itself. I just want to be able to make the choice of whether or not I participate in activities that may or may not help the environment. Let's not forget in the 70's everyone was convinced the earth was cooling down, so really I could be helping the earth by turning up my thermostat.