When I first heard about the proposal in Charleston to make baggy pants illegal (http://www.wcbd.com/midatlantic/cbd/search.apx.-content-articles-CBD-2008-08-12-0021.html,) my first reaction was "fine, I don't care to see underwear out in public." But after thinking about the issue for more than a minute, I think this is just a sign of the times. I'm not talking about a sign of how bad things are, with the way kids are dressing these days. I'm talking about a sign of the times in which elected officials seem to be making normal things we take for granted illegal. Making baggy pants illegal seems like a great idea at first. But this is just the latest in a long line of small steps that erode your freedom. The smoking ban is another issue that I personally don't feel strongly about one way or the other. I don't smoke, and I don't enjoy being around people who are smoking. Frankly, they smell like a butt, literally. But to force a business owner to not allow smoking just seems anti-American to some extent. Another local government in the Lowcountry is making it illegal to not tear down your sand castle at the beach. I kid you not! Now, they say the real issue is not sand castles, but the holes people put in the ground to install a umbrella. Well, I've personally placed umbrellas in the sand at local beaches, and the hole disappears as soon as you pull the pole out of the sand. The point some officials make is that people can fall in the holes if they don't see them. If you can fall in an umbrella hole, you have really small feet. The bottom line is, this ban really only applies to sand castle holes. It just doesn't seem right that we can't build a sand castle and leave it for the ocean to tear down at the next high tide (which happens everyday.) Or how about this one.. In Mount Pleasant it is illegal to pump gas without paying for it in advance. Now, if a business owner wants you to pay before you pump, they can do that on their own. If a business would rather allow you to pay after you pump, well, that's illegal in Mount Pleasant. Now, what business is it of the local government to tell a business owner when they have to accept payment for something? The rationale is that allowing people to pay after the pump can increase the number of drive-offs. Well, if a business owner is having a high rate of drive-offs, they can impliment a pre-pay only policy. How about the dog ordinance at some local beaches? You can't take a dog out on the beach, even on a leash, from 10AM-6PM from April-October. Now, I understand why allowing dog mess all over the beach should be illegal, and it is. But you can't even bring your dog on the beach at all from 10-6. Now, prior to this law, for thousands of years animals were allowed to roam the beach as they so pleased. What legitimate purpose could there be to not even allow dog owners to walk their dog on a leash during the day? I'm not a dog owner by the way. If we don't quit thinking about laws that only affect ME, and look at how some laws simply erode freedom, there is no logical end to what could be made illegal. I could go on and on with examples. The point I'm making is, when is it enough? How many freedoms should be able to be taken away just because some people don't want to be bothered by smoke/sand castles at the beach/dogs walking by/baggy pants? Are small freedoms valuable? Or are our larger freedoms the only freedoms worth protecting? Who is watching out for our freedoms? It doesn't appear that elected officials are.
Raymond
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