THE TROUBLE WITH CAUSES

THE TROUBLE WITH CAUSES

A cranky opinion for

CRANKY OPINION SATURDAY

The following is the opinion of a cranky old man with little or no expertise on the topic opined.  Other opinions are welcome, they will be ignored, but they are welcome and please, no name calling.  That means you, you big stupid head!

I was a bit reticent to publish this for all the flack I am bound to take, but hell if it gets some brain matter churning, I’ll take my licks.  Have at it people.

____________________________________ 

As some of you may be aware, politically I lean to the right.  I like to say I am a conservative with a heart.  Many would disagree with that characterization.

Who gives a crap what many think?  See, I’m a conservative.

Anyway.

Throughout my life I have experienced many causes which I believe were started by Liberals.  Most, if not every one of these causes seemed silly to me at the time and in retrospect seems so correct.

Abortion – Making this legal seemed so wrong initially, until one realized how many lives were ruined by back alley abortions, often done because the morals of the time made unmarried sex such a taboo that young girls preferred risking their life to abort a baby just to save face and not embarrass their family.

Smoking – When I first heard that San Francisco made smoking illegal inside office buildings I thought, “Oh come on, how ridiculous.”  Now looking back I cannot believe smokers (myself included) lit up in the office, on the train, the plane, restaurants and movie theaters.

Drunk driving – Mothers against drunk driving (MADD) fought to bring down the legal limit of alcohol for drivers.  A little over the top I thought.  I was wrong.

Pollution – Oh my God, tossing a cup out a car window, sinking a bottle in the ocean, or burning leaves…big deal.  Actually it is a big deal, it does add up and it is a problem.

These are just a few issues that Liberals have tackled which did not get my blood boiling, but in retrospect I now believe were correct causes.

What is the trouble with causes?  When they win they don’t go away.  Organizations which are started to push for change never just brush their hands together and say, “Done!  Got what we wanted.  Great job, let’s move on.”

MADD pushed for and got the legal alcohol limit for drivers reduced.  They got the limit they wanted and then decided it was still too high.  They keep having the limit lowered.  The organization has been around and collecting money for many years since they first successfully had states change their drunk driving standards.  I think they now want every car equipped with a detector to not allow the car to start unless you can test alcohol negative. 

I suspect the people who run this organization are rewarded for their passion; they probably don’t ever want to disband as long as there is a single drunk driver still on the road.

Abortion – It is legal.  It is not going away, why does this always have to be a major issue in every election?  The Mayor has no say about abortion.  Your State Senator cannot change the law.  The Supreme Court is not going to be stacked in order to rule against abortion.  Not going to happen.  But the issue will not go away.

Last minute abortion outside the womb…why not?   

Require a waiting period because of the many instances of mother’s remorse after the procedure?  NO!! Can’t wait a minute; go get it now, quick before someone changes your mind.

Hell, the issue is decided, but we have to keep pushing the envelope, after all, votes are at stake.  I go with what Hillary said, “Keep abortion legal, but rare.” (I think she said something like that.)

Smoking – Organizations now want it illegal to smoke in your car, your home, and outdoors in public places.  Look I get it, smoking is bad maybe it should be outlawed all together.  Maybe we should just add it to all the other illegal drugs we don’t seem to be able to control.  Probably should get rid of alcohol also…wait, that didn’t work too well the last time.

Pollution – Actually we probably still need to do more to reduce pollution of many kinds.

What are the next causes that will never go away?

Global Warming – I think we need to rely on technology for this one folks.  Even if the theory is wrong, sooner or later we will run low on nasty fuels, alternatives need to be developed.  We should, and we will find alternatives because it makes sense on many levels, not because of fear mongering.  

Genetically Modified Organisms – I don’t know, but this one scares me simply because I don’t see the need for regulation.  I don’t see the downside to GMO’s.  Science which is the basis for Global Warming activism does not seem to find issues with GMO’s but in this case science can’t be trusted.  Pick and choose?  I think the real issue behind the hoo-ha is a legal one, and the real fight is over patents and royalties.

Look, when it comes to causes I am often on the wrong side.  I think the world needs skeptics or else those with causes will just run amuck.  It is a check and balance kind of thing. 

If your cause is right, it will eventually become the law of the land.  If your cause is flawed, well then you’ve got me to slow you down.

God bless America!

The preceding was the opinion of a cranky old man who is capable of changing that opinion at any time.  It is not necessarily the opinion of management…Mrs. Cranky.