Island Voices
Why don't we just use common sense?

By James Ko

Something goes wrong and "nanny government" jumps in to micromanage our lives. Consider:

1. A boy jumps from the bed of a truck. Ban passengers in truck beds?

2. Fire engulfs an apartment. Mandate sprinklers?

3. Someone drowns. Prohibit swimming?

Where does it end? Is risk something that can be legislated out of existence? Ultimately, the question is, can "common sense" be legislated?

We have innumerable laws telling us what we cannot do, and they don’t work. Murder is illegal, yet people still kill. Prostitution is illegal, yet streetwalkers patrol Waikiki. Prisons burst at the seams, yet people still commit crimes.

More ineffective laws: Speeding is illegal, yet even the police speed. Jaywalking is illegal, yet people jaywalk. Will stiff fines really "encourage" people to walk a block to find a crosswalk? No.

We’ve nurtured a ravenous animal, "nanny government," one that knows how best we should live our lives and is hungry for more control.

Nanny government has brought forth airbag, seatbelt and helmet laws. Nanny government orders us to seat our kids in the back largely to protect against airbags mandated by, yes, nanny government. Nanny government has concluded that we’re incapable of protecting our own lives.

You know, most people who don’t buckle up aren’t suicidal, so what crime against humanity are unbelted drivers committing? Is the fine really $65? Is the government really interested in safety — or in generating revenue?

Not to sound callous, especially to the loved ones of the boy who jumped from the truck, but what happened to "common sense"? Had the boy’s common sense kicked in, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

However, because nanny government’s mandate is to make risk extinct, we need a law prohibiting others from riding in a truck bed, even if no one else is stupid enough to jump from a moving vehicle. We’ve been measured against a lowest common denominator standard and predetermined to have failed.

The real problem is we surrender to nanny government more and more of our rights and freedoms — because we don’t object to good intentions yielding bad law. We’ve given nanny government too long a leash — and the mongrel is running amok.

James Ko lives in Honolulu.

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