The Times They Are A-Changin’

In 1941 Franklin Roosevelt spoke eloquently in his inaugural address of “four freedoms” that people the world over should enjoy:

• Freedom of Speech
• Freedom of Worship
• Freedom from Want
• Freedom from Fear

Four score minus six years later, a significant part of the nation seems obsessed about different freedoms, including:

• Freedom of Speech for conspiracy theories
• Freedom of Worship for approved religions
• Freedom from Want of assault rifles
• Freedom from Fear of black Santas.

And, of course, the freedom to serve fecal matter to restaurant customers.

Say what?

For the latter freedom we can thank freshman Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC). He had his choice of sexy issues—like polluting the environment, banning Sharia law, and encouraging the spread of infectious disease. However, he chose the mothership: regulatory burden.

It seems the senator doesn’t think restaurants should be forced by the government to require employees to wash their hands after using the toilet. To be fair, he is not pro-fecal matter per se. He simply wants the “marketplace” (cue the heavenly music) to provide the incentive.

A restaurant that does not require hand washing would have to alert patrons to that fact. Anyone made queasy by that could eat elsewhere, and the restaurant would either have to require hand washing or go out of business. Another marketplace success! And after that we could tackle auto and airline safety, building construction codes, x-ray radiation limits, financial services…so many areas, so little marketplace enforcement.

But could this really work without a government enforcement mechanism? You betcha, because it is well known that business fully subscribes to the concept of transparency with customers! Case-in-point: your friendly cable provider.

The Constitution was written to elect members of the House by popular vote. However, as a way to keep the unwashed uneducated masses and their representatives in the House from having too much say, senators were elected by state legislatures. The 17th Amendment changed that, but it’s mindsets like Tillis’s that make me think the Founding Fathers were on to something. Unfortunately, numerous news reports make it clear that members of state legislatures are actually worse than those in Congress.

Where is freedom from fecal matter when you need it?

(c) 2015 Jeffsicle