In Bloomberg's Defense
Somebody had
to write it, and Tim Noah apparently drew the short straw:
Yet, even as liberals and conservatives profess to hate the idea of government paternalism, both practice it. Liberals support restrictions on harmful things individuals do to their bodies, like smoking, driving without a seat belt, and riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Conservatives support restrictions on actions they deem harmful to the soul, like having abortions, using contraception, and marrying a person of the same sex.
I don't think conservatives oppose abortion because of what it does to the woman having it; the focus is more on the child. And conservatives (mostly) don't oppose contraception.
This part is pretty silly:
The government doesn’t want me talking on the phone while I drive? I can’t say I’ve given that vice up completely, but fear of getting ticketed makes me do it a lot less than I used to, and I may live longer as a result.
For the most part that's not to protect you; it's to protect the people in the other car.
The government wants me eating less salt? I don’t live in New York, but, when I heard Bloomberg was tightening the noose, I reexamined my attachment to sodium chloride and found it to be fairly weak.
I suspect Tim doesn't know how much NaCl is already in the foods he eats.
Indeed, the 16-ounce limit might actually enhance individual liberty by compelling restaurants and bottlers to sell soda in the smaller quantities that people often want but can’t get. It might become possible once again to order a Coke at a movie theater in something less than a Jacuzzi-sized tub.
I haven't checked at the local theater in awhile, but I suspect a 16-ounce soda is still available there. And by 16-ounce soda, I mean about 6 ounces of soda and 10 ounces of ice.
