The Laughing Wolf

Some Thoughts on S. 722

Yesterday was my day to go get the supply of low-carb candybars for the month, and I ended up getting a good deal more. What I got was a discussion of Senate bill S.722, the Dietary Supplement Safety Act, and a nice discussion it was. There is a lot that could be gone into in technical terms and bill language, the fact that it vastly increases government power and intrusion into everyday lives, and the fact that it apparently provides no more protection – or maybe even less – than current regulations, but I am going to cut to the chase from my viewpoint.

Americans have the right to make stupid choices.

I have re-read the Constitution and no where does it say that the State is a nanny, and that the making of poor, ill-considered, or just flat out stupid choices is a thing to be avoided. If anything, there appears to be an undercurrent there that sometimes stupid choices are good in that allows foolishness to be identified and/or eliminated.

Our great experiment is founded on the idea that the people, bless their black flabby little hearts, have the capability to think for themselves, to educate themselves on issues and events, and to make rational and informed decisions on their own. No one to hold their hands, to guide them, to feel their pain, or anything else. They are to stand alone and proud, and make a choice.

That includes what they eat (the idiocy of the food lawsuits is the subject for another day), what they drink, and what they put in their bodies, period. No one else has the right to dictate to you what you do in this regard. They can give you information, make sure you are informed, and expect you to get up off your lazy duff and BE informed. If, after all of this, you still want to do something stupid, that is your right. Remember, however, that the choice and all of its costs are yours to bear, because no one else has to pay for your mistakes.

If you are foolish, stupid, or lazy enough to put drugs in you without knowing what they are, what they do, and how they do it, then quite frankly you deserve what happens to you. If you fall for the pitchman’s spiel and don’t have the willpower or the brains not to do so, well, that is your problem. If you are sick or die as a result, that is at best a matter between you and the maker of the product, it is not anyone else’s. Under current criminal and civil law, if someone knowingly makes and sells/distributes a harmful or defective product, you can take them to court.

The government is into regulation because since the late 1800s/early 1900s, it has seen you not so much as a Citizen but a revenue producing unit. Harm to such is to be avoided, and though this is against every fundamental precept of the founding fathers, it continues to expand. It is time to stop that expansion.

Quite frankly, the right to make stupid decisions is good for many reasons, including improvement of the species. Not just in Darwinian terms, but in forcing a return to the concept of individual responsibility that was at the heart of the great experiment. That alone is worth fighting for.

As a step towards this, I think this bill should be opposed. I also think that it should be opposed because it is a massive expansion of the government, it provides no more regulation and control than is already in place, it could require all supplements to go through the same approval process as drugs at the same millions of dollars per item cost, and because the great nanny state does not need to be telling me which brand and what amount of vitamin C to take. That is up to me, and it is incumbent upon me to make an informed choice on that matter. For that is my right and my responsibility as a Citizen.

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