Communism By Other Means

I didn't know the CPSC was functionally retarded. Actually, I apologize. I take it back. That's an insult to the mentally challenged.

The Consumer Protection Safety Commission is just another one of those bureaucracies lost in an abyss looking to justify its existence and salaries. When classical liberals call for 'smaller government' this is what we mean. Shedding off dead weight that pose a mighty threat to liberty and the economy.

A man; a citizen SHOULD BE FREE TO EARN A LIVING without being hassled in this manner. I can't stress this enough so I all-capped it.

What am I going on about now?

Magnet toys. From Reason:

"The CPSC wants those products off the market entirely, believing they represent an unacceptable risk to people who might eat them—not the recommend use, natch. The CPSC does not believe that warnings on the product or restricting their sale to above a certain age is good enough."

Amazing how an organization  - unelected - has the power to put someone out of business. It's outrageous. I could be wrong looking at it this way but there's something drastically macabre when a government agency like the CPSC can destroy businesses (and the lives that go with it because, you know, it's people who start businesses).  The irony, of course, is it is business that generates the revenues and income the government taxes in order to pay all sorts of (often wastefully) neat things like, for example, the salaries of the busy bodies in the CPSC.

Luckily, one company - Zen Magnets- is fighting back.

"Shihan Qu, who runs Zen Magnets, said to me in a written statement about his still-ongoing struggle:

I have two very distinct but related motives for continuing this fight.

The first one is obvious. I want to win. I want to keep selling magnets. I want to continue seeing the passion, joy, and inspiration they bring. I want to stay in business. I want to see a victory for magnets.

But number two, I want the CPSC to LOSE. I really really want them to lose. They need some humility and to be reminded of the standard of liberty in this country.

The single biggest issue that must be challenged, the aspect that makes this a landmark case, is that this is the first time the CPSC is arguing that warnings don't work, which has incredibly vast policy implications. Putting warnings on this is mostly what the CPSC does. Small parts, choking hazards, etc.

Warnings are a sort of agreement a customer accepts upon use of a product. And by assuming that people cannot follow -- by the way, there is still nobody who can confirm even a single Zen Magnet ingestion incident -- instructions to keep magnets away from children and mouths, they are assuming the American Population is not capable of deciding for themselves. They are taking your right to consent, and fleecing your freedom to do as you will."

Yeah. Good luck taking that to some people. The government has so thoroughly frightened them they consent to them imagining laws 'just in case' someone decides to swallow a magnet.

- by the way, there is still nobody who can confirm even a single Zen Magnet ingestion incident -- instructions to keep magnets away from children and mouths, they are assuming the American Population is not capable of deciding for themselves.

This. I mean so this.

They can't and won't produce facts because they don't have the evidence to base their assertions up. They're baseless. They're just fear-mongering, non-sensical, paternalistic gibberish. It's the same line of logic that corrodes daycare. I go back to this story because it's relevant. When an inspector came to my daycare she spent an inordinate amount of time making sure all cleaning products were under lock and key. When I asked what study showed children were drinking Spic and Span to death she frankly responded "there isn't one. It was just a rule we came up with." Sooo. I can lose my reputation based on flimsy red tape and that's that. We have to comply or we get a check mark next to the report graciously written by the Politburo.

People who consent to more regulations based on 'what ifs' deserve to live under a dictatorship. More importantly, they have no clue what the impact is on others no do they care about unintended consequences. All they "consent" to is 'well, it's better to be safe than sorry." If this be how they view things, then just have everyone wear helmets too. 

Is it normal or right  that a man must fight to keep his business under specious claims? It's not just about magnets. We see this sort of problem gripping our economy in all industries across the continent. Progressives have it all wrong. When they call for more regulations all that happens is it gives the government more power to strangle - under mountains of red tape for instance - small businesses. We bear the brunt of the impact. All regulations designed to 'protect us', all economic policies with floors and ceilings, in the end, hurt the 'little guy' they claim to be helping.

That's why I laugh my ass of when guys like Trudeau and Obama say they want to 'strengthen the middle-class.' Maybe they do, but they're wrongheadedly and dogmatically attached to their visions (e.g. taxes on gas, cigarettes and soda drinks disproportionately impact people on the lower income scales just like the War on Drugs does to people) of how to help us. The best way to help us is to respectfully fuck off.

Good luck to Mr. Qu.

***

These stories are important because I find myself fighting the government in daycare as well. Every year that passes, more idiotic and baseless laws come into play. It's like a hideous Medusa run amok. For example, there's a new law stipulating that private daycare must purchase baby wipes for their clients.

Think of this for a second. Aside from the fact many parents prefer to buy their own (in my case. I have a high-income clientele who on average would appreciate the government getting out of the way) for a number of reasons. When it comes to their own children, parents have all sorts of idiosyncrasies in what products they use. Some like one scent, another a specific brand, and so on. You can't possibly expect a daycare to interfere and force people into a one-size fits all scenario but that's what the government does. It erases personal choice and intimate interactions between educators and parents (client and professional in any field or industry). It's an unwelcome imposition.

In Quebec, it's especially problematic because whenever the bureaucracy comes up with something it only considers the particularities of subsidized daycare. It literally (and insultingly) flat out ignores the needs and realities of privare daycare.

Now I ask, how is this NOT communism by other means? They push, erase liberty, and push the envelope some more until they can get as tight a grip as they can get. But the more they twist, the more it will all eventually explode lest they take over.

Instead of wasting time on such trivial nonsense, they could, you know, actually develop an innovative EDUCATION PROGRAM unique to Quebec instead of the galling crap they off.

I'll tell you what they'll do next. The private daycares that will excel with an original program will outperform the subsidized ones - which is a no-no in Canada - all must operate at the same speed. That is, as fast as your weakest link - this will in turn alert the Moronic Magistrates in the Department of Mediocrity and they will find a way to crush you.

It's their MO.