There are lots of ways paternalistic regulation chafes against liberty and personal freedom, from helmet laws to consumer protection statutes. They personally drive me absolutely crazy. What business is it of government if as an individual one chooses to engage in “risky” behavior? Since I am paying (yes, a LOT of money) for my own health care, and have never once used as much in benefits as premiums, how do politicians get off forcing me to change my own activities to reduce what they cavalierly decide are socially-unacceptable activities?

It is one thing to give incentives to induce individual decisions beneficial to a country’s citizens as a whole, for instance tax credits for green appliances. But mandates are a completely different thing. What if I just adore incandescent bulbs and want to keep using them? What if, as is decidedly the case, I prefer to listen my iPod with ear-bud speakers and full volume, not using “soundcheck“? There is no conceivable reason I should not be permitted to do so.

That means, for me, that however much I like Europe — and as a Formula One fan it is certainly a very desirable continent — I would never live there. Just yesterday, the European Union parliament proposed requiring all MP3 manufacturers to put a volume “governor” on their products, to protect users’ hearing. EU to MP3 users: Turn that down!. Well, like Lynyrd Skynyrd, I say “turn it up!” This is paternalistic regulation at its worse.

Wait, you disagree? Sorry, couldn’t hear what you said.