When freedom is not freedom

Recently I've been watching reruns of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 on Netflix (actually, Netflix should send the creators of that show a check, since it's the only reason I still pay for the account right now). I didn't watch it much when I was in high school, and it's better than the few episodes I remember, although considering how I remember it, that's not high praise.

One line in an episode I watched recently struck me, though. Garak, the exiled Cardassian tailor/spy (think evil space nazi's, complete with death camps for a perennially abused, overly religious race) and one of the Starfleet officers were discussing freedom of choice and the difference between the Federation and Cardassian legal systems. The Starfleet officer was extolling the wonders of freedom and choice, and Garak responded by saying "the problem with giving people the freedom to choose is that sometimes they make the wrong choice." He's right. By giving people the freedom to make a choice, you are giving them the freedom to make the wrong choice. Without the ability to choose poorly, you really have no choice at all. Put another way, with power comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes consequences for poor use of that power. Just ask this guy.

(that's the guy who chose poorly in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, by the way). And yes, that really was just an excuse to toss a reference to one of my favorite movies of all time into this post.

This brings me to Mike Bloomberg's crusade against anything bad for you. In case you're unaware, Mike Bloomberg, the current mayor of New York City has been carrying out a campaign against anything that is, well, bad for you. He started by essentially banning smoking cigars and cigarettes from any public space, then moved on to ban transfats, heavily regulate salt and butter content in foods, and most recently banned the sale of any soft drink larger than 16 ounces in most settings. The ban has exceptions for supermarkets and convenience stores. His handpicked Board of Health has also discussed banning large popcorn in theaters and regulating other high calorie treats.

Bloomberg has identified obesity as a serious public health issue and decided (correctly) that obese and overweight people generally become that way because of poor decision making in food and beverage choices. He has determined that the best course of action to correct people's poor decision making is to simply remove the option for them to make the "wrong" decision. In other words, he has shifted the decision making process from the consumer to the government. It means that today (well, whenever the NYC Board of Health gets around to approving the proposed rule if you want to be very technical) the citizens of NYC are just a little bit less free than they were yesterday. It's not a big deal, it's not earth shattering, and truthfully I doubt that anyone will remember that you used to be able to get a 32 ounce Coke to go with that hot pastrami sandwich a year from now.

But the citizens of NYC will be a little less free. And that, to me, is a scary thing.