Posted by “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.” – C.S. Lewis
How does freedom die? One tiny paper cut at a time. The above quote from C.S. Lewis – most famous for writing The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, sometimes referred to as the Chronicles of Narnia – is one of my favourites of all time. It resonates with me more and more as the West inexorably sinks deeper into the quagmire of political correctness while the holier-than-thou busy bodies that are embodied by the SJW (Social Justice Warriors) movement continue to crush freedom of expression as they attempt to ram their social agenda down our throats; all in the name of fairness, diversity and inclusiveness.
Most of us don’t see it because it is hidden so well in the media propaganda that it has subtly crept up on us like the fable of the frog in a pot of boiling water. Inch by inch, little by little, our freedom of speech is whittled away; all because its for our own good. The media is probably the most culpable as news outlets and reporters tend to be over-educated liberals who think they know so much better than the rest of us deplorables who wallow in the mud of the masses. The news has long stopped being news of facts and is now news that is more op-eds and subtle brainwashing and propaganda. No media bias? Well OK, how about we take a look at some recent examples.
In Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, a couple were forced to put up a sign with the simple message, “The husky is not cold! Leave us alone.”
Porter and her partner are students. She is studying to be a veterinarian at the Atlantic Veterinary College. They moved to Charlottetown from Deer Lake, N.L., a couple of years ago with Riley, which was adopted from the humane society. “He’s a wild dog that was found in the woods. He has a lot of separation anxiety because he was separated from his mother at such a young age,” Porter said. Porter and her partner put this sign on their lawn to tell people to stop complaining that Riley is outdoors part of the day. Porter said the dog gets too hot inside, is high energy and will try to break out if left alone in the house. “We would have to medicate him if we had to force him to stay inside, which would be unfortunate,” she said.
The P.E.I. Humane Society received multiple complaints from people worried Riley needed shelter. Under the provincial Animal Welfare Act, animals must be provided with adequate food, water and shelter. The case is now closed because the couple finally installed a dog house for Riley, the society said. At first, the couple resisted buying one for him because he would not use it, but did so because they were told to, Porter said. “I think we need to be doing less just to please the community and more to educate the community,” she said. The society said if it hears further complaints, it would do its due diligence and check, but would also advise complainants that the owners are abiding by the law. Porter hopes people will stop watching their house, taking photos of Riley and making complaints to the society.
So there you have it. Someone who is studying to be a veterinarian so probably knows more about dogs and animal care then most is continually harassed (likely anonymously) by busy bodies who think they know better and make complaints to the human society which is then forced to waste resources to pander to these people. Here’s a simple rule for getting along with others in life which seems to have gotten lost in the modern age of liberal virtue signalling – MYOB or Mind Your Own Business. But nope, every year we get stupid media reports of dogs or other pets left out in the cold or in a car in a parking lot when its very hot outside and over time, people start to think it is their sacred duty to break the window to rescue the poor animal because it’s the “right” thing to do. I’ve got bad news for those people – more often than not, it’s most certainly not the “right” thing to do and it’s far more likely that you are just another self-righteous meddlesome asshole. Here’s a simple litmus test – if you don’t have the balls to go up the the person and make your observation or complaint directly and are relying on some anonymous tip to some governmental third party like the humane society or bylaw officers – you probably are just a whining passive-aggressive jerk. In fact, I think we should eliminate all this anonymous phone in lines to the government because while it is not a court of law, one of the simple moral foundations of our legal system is that an accused has the right to face his accuser. The mere existence of these services not only panders to but actually enables all the passive-aggressive douche-bags to abuse them.
Here’s another recent news item in case you missed it about a homeless woman found dead inside a clothing donation box in Toronto. “A woman who died after being found without vital signs partially inside a Toronto clothing donation bin was remembered by friends as a bubbly person who struggled with homelessness and addiction.” The article then goes on to describe what a wonderful and a great person she was; so much so that the CBC decided to dig deeper into the history and background of this homeless person so they could further the point of what an exceptional great and loving person she was.
The article then dives into calls for action which in our current politically correct way of looking at things, means the government has to do something about it. “The woman’s death prompted Mayor John Tory to announce he has drafted a letter to the chair of the city’s general government and licensing committee, requesting a review of three aspects of the donation bin system:”
- Whether it’s the best way to collect clothing.
- The location of the boxes.
- The safety of the boxes, which are designed to make it difficult for people to access the inside.
“I think if we look at these broad questions, focusing now first and foremost on safety, but then looking at the whole question of whether this system still works and whether these boxes are properly located, will give us a thorough examination of this,” Tory told reporters at a Tuesday morning press conference announcing a traffic safety blitz.
At the risk of appearing insensitive and cruel, let’s look at this same news event dispassionately. What we have is an unemployed and uneducated woman with a substance abuse problem living on the streets for nearly 20 years. She dropped out of school, is estranged from her parents and by the looks of it never held down a real job. She then tries to steal clothes that were donated to charity, in a box that is designed to deter exactly such an event from happening (whether or not she really then passed those clothes out to other homeless people is irrelevant). Somehow, this is then the fault of the charity that runs the boxes or the manufacturer who makes them. So, I guess if someone wants to break into my home to steal things, it is obviously my fault that they get cut on the broken glass from the window they smashed or maybe it’s the window manufacturer’s fault for making a window that isn’t thief friendly. But do we see even a whiff of this angle of the story? Nope, the spin is it’s all just a tragedy for an innocent and loved individual, a pillar of society that was harmlessly rooting through a donation bin that is a purposely built death trap and they should be all removed immediately. Everyone is to blame, the charity, the city, the designer, the manufacturer; everyone that is except for the thief because apparently she’s a saint.
How biased is our reporting and our spin on things as well as our deeply ingrained belief to blame everyone else in society while individuals have no responsibility for their own action? Here’s another recent news report on a tragic death except from the other side of the planet in Hong Kong. “Boy, 12, dies three days after choking on beef ball“, is the headline.
“A 12-year-old boy has died three days after choking on a dim-sum beef ball.The tragedy began to play out after the secondary one student named Chau finished classes in Wong Tai Sin on Friday. While walking home to Chuk Yuen South Estate he stopped at an eatery and bought snacks including siu mai, fishballs and beef balls. But he choked after taking biting on a beef ball. It seemed he could not breath nor cry for help, but a woman security guard passing by saw him clutching his neck. She called police as the boy collapsed. He was sent to Caritas Hospital and then transferred to the intensive care unit of Princess Margaret Hospital, where he died yesterday at 8.50am. He had apparently suffered brain damage due to a lack of oxygen, which led to multi-organ failure.”
“In January, an eight-year-old girl who choked on a cuttlefish ball in Yuen Long died after 26 days in hospital. The primary three student had bought cuttlefish balls at a school kiosk during recess. She choked and collapsed on the playground. She remained in critical condition after she was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit in Tuen Mun Hospital, suffering from a lack of oxygen to her brain.”
If those were Canadian headlines, there would be cries of outrage from relatives and politicians demanding inquiries into why ball-shaped food was so dangerous. There would be some who would demand the immediate removal of all meat balls from the market until they were made safe and others who would be outraged that such a dangerous product could even be allowed to be sold in the first place. Thankfully, there are places in the world where common sense is still more prevalent; where government’s have not been cowed into a parochial nanny-state mentality that has the insane belief that life can be completely danger proofed. Sorry to rain on your snowflake rainbow-coloured unicorn fantasy land but in life, shit happens – deal with it. What was Hong Kong’s policy response to this spate of events (there was a third one where a two year old died eating a grape):
Axel Siu Yuet-chung, president of Hong Kong College of Emergency Medicine, reminded people they should not eat while talking and walking. “When people swallow too fast or eat while walking food can drop into the airway,” Siu said. He said people usually will cough when choking on something. But if a situation worsens a person’s face will turn blue, they cannot speak or cough, and their hands will clutch at their neck. People who see such choking signs can help a person by performing the Heimlich Maneuver. To perform this, people make a fist and position it between the sternum and umbilicus and pull inward and up on a distressed person’s abdomen until he or she throws up the object. He added that people can also slap a person’s back between the scapula. Organizations like the Red Cross recommend five blows and five thrusts until a blockage is cleared.
Because the more we continue to blame everyone else: society, companies, the government – the less we show individual responsibility. One of the side effects of this is that the more we think the government should intervene in our lives, the more our personal freedoms get impinged. Readers will remember the piece I wrote about the poor guy in Nova Scotia who’s license plate with his family name (Grabher) was revoked by the government after some (yes anonymous again) individual complained that it was offensive. Yup, apparently in Canada, a person’s family name can be considered offensive and it’s the government’s job to protect.
Well, governmental stupidity is still alive and well as this recent report of a similar license plate fracas in Saskatchewan but with a hilarious twist.
“Dave Assman is sticking it to the man by sticking it to the back of his truck. When Assman (pronounced “Oss-men”) applied for a personalized licence plate, his request was denied. Saskatchewan Government Insurance, which manages vehicle registration, called the name an “unacceptable slogan.” The Melville, Sask., man has since immortalized his last name on the back of his truck with a large decal that looks like a giant Saskatchewan licence plate.”
Well kudos to Mr. Assman. There was a time not so long ago when we had a sense of humour. In fact, the ASSMAN license plate was the theme of an episode of the 90s comedy show Seinfeld where Kramer is accidentally issued a proctologist’s vanity plate (the cover photo to this article shows the New York plate from that episode). Also during the 90s, Dick Assman (of Regina, Saskatchewan) became a minor celebrity. “Mr. Assman came to the attention of Mr. Letterman in 1995 through an advertisement in which Mr. Assman and Scott Gosselin, the owners of a Petro-Canada gas station in Regina, announced their move to a new location. Mr. Letterman was amused by the name (a German name pronounced OSS-man, though Mr. Letterman did not choose to pronounce it that way). “Folks,” he said in a broadcast that July, holding up a picture of the ad, “I know that it’s not fair to make fun of somebody’s name, but, good heavens, Gosselin?” Mr. Assman was invited to New York to appear on the show and, on arriving, was engulfed by screaming studio audience members. He had become a celebrity. The show began featuring an occasional segment called “Assman the Gasman,” in which Mr. Letterman would telephone him at his gas station.”
Yes people, once upon a time (heck it was only 20 years ago), we had a sense of humour and were actually more inclusive, friendly, happy and open-minded for it. We did not take offense at every small perceived slight and didn’t feel the need to involve the nanny-state in every little aspect of our lives because one overly sensitive individual makes an anonymous phone call to a government agency.