I’ve had some interesting discussions lately regarding governments. 

So thinking about it today I realized that a government only has two real roles.

To Protect and to Provide.  Provide is easy.  It provides education and welfare and all those various entitlements, and sundry other benefits.  I don’t want to blog about that.  I might have to take a position on Universal Health Care.

I am more concerned today about protection.  I see there being 3 areas of protection.  The obvious one is protection from foreign enemies.  We have the military and such to ensure our people are safe from the bad guys.  There is also an element of internal protection, where the Federal Government ensures that the states are not taking advantage of each other and that business are not taking advantage of consumers..

But the most insidious element of protection is the nanny state “protect you from yourself” mentality, and our Federal, State and even City and County Governments are masters of it.

Take a few recent examples.  First, Smoking.  Once upon a time almost everyone smoked.  It was common and everyday.  But as the health risk became more publicized, the government grew more intrusive.  Now, you cannot smoke practically anywhere, not because a business decides to ban it, but because bureaucrats decided smoking in doors was naughty.

And California has taken that to the extreme by seeking to ban smoking in homes.  Yes, in homes.  If you are in an apartment or condo, in several cities there are now ordinances in the works to an smoking, and even in free standing homes if a neighbor complains.

Look, we can agree smoking is bad for you, but as long as the federal and state governments allow the legal sale of Tobacco, then they have to accept that people are going to smoke, and as sidewalks and parks get banned, and even cars in some instances, what is left when you take away homes?