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Posted on 07/15/2011 6:28:05 AM PDT by shortstop
The light bulb is dead.
The incandescent bulb which has pushed back the night since an American named Thomas Edison invented it, will soon be no more. It was killed, like the innovation it symbolizes, by the federal government.
In one more demonstration of the we-know-better-than-you arrogance which has come to define Washington, the switch has been flipped on the light bulb’s last chance at life.
In a vote earlier this week, 233 voted to keep the bulb and 193 voted to get rid of it, but in the new-math world of parliamentary procedure, the bulb still lost.
Actually, the bulb didn’t lose anything.
It is an inanimate object, a thing we hold in our hands, a product we use in our homes.
The real loser is us.
And what we’ve lost is freedom.
In the steady chipping away of anything that resembles liberty, the all-powerful federal masters even dictate how we light our homes.
They tell us what light bulbs are legal, how much water can be in our toilet, how much ethanol must be in our gasoline, how many ounces can be in a paint can. They say, “Jump” and we say, “How high?”
The notion of the people controlling the government is forgotten, neither taught in classrooms nor understood in society. We are subjects, not citizens, the government is sovereign, not servile. And none of that is good.
It is like the taming of a wild horse.
It runs free, living as it will, until it is brought into a corral. Once habituated to being penned in, the cowboy lays a blanket over its back, which it at first kicks off, but ultimately accepts.
Then a touch, then a bridle, then a bit, then a saddle, then a spur.
And before you know it, step by step, in tiny increments, the once-free horse is waltzing around the arena like a Lipizzaner.
That’s about where we are.
We were given a country of liberty, and we have allowed it to be turned into a kingdom of bureaucrats and politicians. The government plans and often pays for our children’s meals. The government determines how many miles per gallon our cars must travel. The government rules and we obey.
And somehow, sometime we have to stop it.
Because somewhere in our future, by ballot or bullet, this will once again be a free country. History would suggest that there will first be a long and insufferable reign of oppression. But someday, in some American breast, there will burn again the passion for liberty, and the shackles will be thrown off.
Better that we avoid that reign of oppression by throwing it off now, by standing up to it and demanding that we be allowed to live our lives.
A micro-managing government is an oppressive government, regardless of the ostensible motive. Protecting us – or the environment or the children or the economy or whatever else they’re protecting – is not justification for enslaving us.
And government cannot protect you without enslaving you. It cannot protect you from the consequences of your choices without taking away you ability to make those choices.
And so we must wear seat belts and motorcycle helmets and ban transfats and cell phones in cars. Fries can’t have too much salt and cigarettes must carry pictures of cancers and people who buy guns must show picture ID and wait five days. We have to buy insurance and we can't buy fireworks and from zoning rules to city ordinances to state and federal laws, the government seems to see its primary function as putting its boot on our necks.
But you can't succeed unless you can also fail, and you can't be free unless you are left to face the consequences of your freedom. The government needs to learn that, and so do we.
We need to stop being complicit in our own enslavement. We must stop expecting the government to meet our every need and kiss our every booboo. We must accept personal responsibility for our wellbeing and support. We must realize that life isn't fair, we don't all make the same amount of money, the storms do rage and the earth does quake, and that we can't take a government handout without accepting a government restraint.
This country wasn't formed to make us safe, it was formed to make us free. The purpose of government is not to oversee our lives, it is to safeguard our liberties.
Both we and the government must learn its place.
And it must learnt to keep its nose out of our business.
Edison didn’t invent the light bulb.
The light bulb issue is an apt metaphor. The left dominates the political and cultural spheres and by doing so, controls us, subtly yet quite effectively. We could all make a long list of the restrictions, rules and laws that invade our lives. I'm not a libertarian and realize that laws and rules are necessary in a civilized society but it's painfully obvious that the government has long since passed the stage of simply exercising it's just power in a reasonable way. It has become oppressive. We now have a huge portion of the American public receiving their income, or part of it, from 'the government'. These folks will ensure that Democrat politicians are rewarded for their largess with the votes of the dependent. The power of the left will continue to grow, albeit, in spurts. Democrat politicians will continue to enlarge their control over the population with more laws, rules and regulations that encroach on our personal freedom.
I regret to state that many Americans will shrug and say "big deal" to the fact that incandescent light bulbs are being removed from the marketplace by government edict. This is how it happens. This is how we lose our freedom. Piece by piece, bit by bit. 'Creeping normalcy'. Suffice it to say, this will not end well.
When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!
Time to start training for the EPA style cleanups that will be required every time someone breaks one of the things...a nice little cottage industry.
I read that Texas will make their own incandescent bulbs for sale within their state and get around the federal ban.
Other states may do the same. Seems that if enough states do it, then maybe the federal ban will be repealed.
Very well said sir!
“I read that Texas will make their own incandescent bulbs for sale within their state and get around the federal ban.”
South Carolina has also passed an incandescent lightbulb manufacturing law.
Exactly right. Big business offers bribes (uhmm, cough...PAC and/or campaign contributions) and the politicians do their bidding.
HeeHee! Private Electric.
I'll remember that one
FYI, if hopefully you are saving up your 100W bulbs, be certain to check the box for “Lumens”. A standard 100W should have about 1500+ Lumens, but many are now being sold with as little as 900 Lumens, which is about the brightness of a 60W bulb.
Not knowing this, many people are trying to stock up on bulbs that are useless for what they want them to do.
Yes,shifted manufacturing to mercury laden CFL. Then, 20 years down the road they will rake fortune by charging for soil cleanup from mercury contamination.
I was helping some folks with a home repair last week and when we had to move things about in a downstairs room I found 8 shopping bags full of 60, 75 and 100 watt incandescent bulbs. She told me they've been hoarding for about a year.
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