Get rid of the Remote Control
Grandad June 1st, 2007
Welcome to our latest law in a long stream of idiotic laws.
It is now illegal to buy or sell packs of ten cigarettes. Even those shops that still have packs of ten in stock can’t sell them. So any child who used to but a 10 pack will now buy a 20 pack instead.
Congratulations legislators, on your incredible bid to increase under-age smoking.
This law ranks up there with the law that bans the burning of wood in a garden, yet you can get a grant to install a wood burning stove in the house!!!!
Fifty years ago, I was unaware of the law in the course of my daily life. I was aware that there were laws about theft and damage to property. And of course, murder was frowned upon. But as I was brought up not to kill, steal or vandalise, these laws didn’t bother me.
There was the time I trespassed to collect conkers: the police just reminded me that it was private property, and that I should ask permission first. That was the way it was. If you broke the law, you were given a rap on the knuckles. Unless of course it was a really serious offence.
In our day to day lives, we cycled without helmets. We roller-skated without protective clothing. If we went boating, we never bothered with floatation jackets. We could buy a single cigarette. The only place I remember smoking being prohibited was downstairs on the bus.
We saw the law as something serious, but it was for criminals. The rest of us respected one another and if we harmed ourselves, that was our problem.
Now there is legislation governing just about every aspect of our lives. And what’s worse, the authorities are determined to catch us out. They install speed traps, closed circuit cameras and smoke detectors. They deliberately set out to catch people breaking laws. The law is no longer there to protect - it is there to control.
As a result, the man in the street [like me] feels like he can’t be trusted. He is being treated like a child and every move is being watched ‘for his own good’. And it is in the nature of the child to rebel, and to push the boundaries.
I am a citizen of this state and as such I am entitled to my liberties. And those liberties include the right to make my own mistakes, and to harm myself, provided of course, I am not harming others.
Doubtless they will bring in legislation at some stage to outlaw unprotected sex or the use of DIY tools. Maybe a law prohibiting the wearing of shoes with the laces undone? Or the amount to food we can eat? Where does it stop?
The child in me is rebelling. I give two fingers to a lot of the laws because they are trying to control me, not protect me. I am old enough to know myself what is good and what is bad.
I know it will only get worse. The government wants to control the people and there is little I can do about it.
I will continue to object.
Until blogs become illegal of course.
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