Big Brother Out of Control

· Monday, February 15, 2010

The Audi motor company's idea of an environmentally-correct America, to judge from the TV commercial it spent several million dollars to air during the Super Bowl, is one in which homeowners could be arrested for using incandescent light bulbs, customers choosing plastic bags at the supermarket would be manhandled by the Green Police, and anyone tossing an orange peel into the wastebasket could find himself in the beam of a searchlight, hearing a voice bark through a loudspeaker: "Put the rind down, sir! That's a compost infraction!"

It's also a place where highway traffic would back up at an "eco-roadblock," but anyone driving a "green" car like Audi's A3 TDI would be waved through the checkpoint.

Of course, the notion of an environmental police state terrorizing citizens for not being sufficiently "green" is just parody meant to be laughed at. Or is it? On its website, Audi USA earnestly describes its Green Police as "caricatures" created to "help" consumers "faced with a myriad of decisions in their quest to become more environmentally responsible citizens." And what better way to "help" them than with scenes of ruthless Greenshirts handcuffing hot-tubbers whose water is too warm, or raiding the home of residents who threw a used battery into the wrong trash bin?

"Green has never felt so right," proclaims Audi's dystopian ad. Others agree. David Roberts, who writes for the environmental webzine Grist (and who has called for putting global warming skeptics on trial), says the "thrill" of the ad "turns on satisfying the green police." The commercial makes sense, he writes, only "if it's aimed at people who acknowledge the moral authority of the green police — people who may find those [environmental] obligations tiresome and constraining . . . but who recognize that living more sustainably is in fact the moral thing to do."

On Twitter, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom expressed his approval more concisely: "That 'green police' Audi commercial hits home." He would know. Under a composting ordinance Newsom signed last year, throwing orange peels, coffee grounds, or greasy pizza boxes in the trash is now illegal in San Francisco, and carries fines of up to $500 per violation.

There was a time when Americans were thought capable of deciding for themselves what to do with their coffee grounds or whether to carry groceries home in paper or plastic bags. It isn't only in San Francisco, and it isn't only when it comes to "green" issues, that such mundane or personal choices are being supplanted by government coercion. One thin slice at a time, liberties we used to take for granted are replaced with mandates from above. Rather than leave us free to choose, Big Brother increasingly makes the choice for us: On trans fats. On gambling. On smoking. On bicycle helmets. On health insurance.

In Massachusetts, the Globe reported last week, new regulations will soon require thousands of restaurant workers to undergo state-designed training on handling food allergies, and every restaurant menu will have to be revised to include a new message: "Before placing your order, please inform your server if a person in your party has a food allergy." In Pennsylvania, the Reading Eagle notes that it is illegal for volunteers to sell pies or cookies at a charity bake sale unless the treats were "prepared in kitchens inspected and licensed by the state Agriculture Department." In Oregon, an eight-year-old boy was suspended from his public school on Monday because he came to class with a tiny plastic toy gun from his G.I. Joe action figure.

It isn't to evil dictators with a lust for power that Americans have been slowly surrendering their autonomy. It is to well-intentioned authorities who believe sincerely that our freedoms must be circumscribed for our own good. At the White House on Tuesday, First Lady Michelle Obama announced what The New York Times called "a sweeping initiative . . . aimed at revamping the way American children eat and play — reshaping school lunches, playgrounds, and even medical checkups — with the goal of eliminating childhood obesity."

Nothing in the Constitution authorizes the federal government to take charge of "revamping the way American children eat and play." It is only our passivity that makes such an encroachment possible. This used to be the land of the free. Is it still?


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Comments

bmwfan

I bought a used 87 VW Scirocco out of college. 16 valve DOHC. I really liked the look and the handling and speed! Too bad it was a p.o.s. It was only 3 years old but I spent just as much on repairs as I did the car itself.

Until Recently, I really liked the look and feel of where Audi was going with their vehicles.

Sorry, but no matter how "funny" this ad is supposed to be, I will never buy an Audi or VW ever again. I am a BMW fanatic now, but if they ever decide to go in the same marketing direction, I will seriously think otherwise on my next purchase.

San Fransicko can have their progressive Gavin Meddlesom, just like the Germans welcomed their progressive non smoking, non drinking, vegan dictator. If only they cared as much about drug and arms trafficking along their southern border.

Posted February 15, 2010 at 1:25:41 AM


Ileana

I believe Glenn Beck spent a good part of one of his shows demonstrating how to dispose of one of these "eco-friendly" bulbs in case they shatter because they are actually mercury-containing and thus toxic. Yet, in the near future, we will be hard-pressed to find incandescent bulbs in the stores, bulbs that pose no health threat to anyone.

The scientist involved in the global warming scam has finally admitted that there has been no significant warming of temperatures across the globe yet this administration is going full steam ahead with cap and trade via executive order and the EPA, bypassing Congress altogether. It has also been revealed that the fraudulent data had been altered, culled from a student's dissertation, or from casual comments of climbers who "noted" glacial melting. Yet we are going to destroy jobs, standard of living, and entire sectors of the economy on a hoax.

It does not matter that the majority of Americans do not want this administration's socialized health care, uncle Sam knows best, and it will impose its will via executive order.

Will there be an eco-police because we are too fat, thus hurting the environment? Will we be put on a forced diet? Will we be refused medical care because we are too fat and thus a burdensome and costly risk?

Will every facet of our lives be policed in some way?

Posted February 15, 2010 at 1:34:17 AM


MichaelSSEC

Is there any minute corner of American life that these radical Liberals aren't trying to control? Why do they always believe they know better than we do what's best for us? It would be wrong even if their silly theories were correct.

But they're not.

Look at global warming. Faked research, doctored data, phony sources, propaganda campaigns. And most damning of all: no warming! They keep predicting warming, and they keep having to push their predictions conveniently into the future every time their last prediction fails to deliver. How many times have they declared "the hottest year on record" in headlines three inches tall, only to retract and backpedal when it turns out the data were actually just estimates? But the retractions never see three-inch headlines.

Look at Michelle Obama's sudden passion for skinny kids. In one sentence she admits that there's absolutely no evidence showing that government edicts make people more fit, but then in the very next sentence she's arguing for exactly that. Maybe that's where her husband gets that tendency to admit he has no facts and then make sweeping proclamations anyway, like "the Cambridge police acted stupidly."

Let's ask a pertinent question: have the Liberals ever been RIGHT about something? Except for calling Kanye West a "jackass" has Obama ever gotten something right?

Posted February 15, 2010 at 2:52:57 PM


Howard Last

We already have the green police, its the building codes. Try to have a non-low flow toilet installed in a new home. Or try and find a water heater that can be set above 140 degrees. Never mind that you need temperatures of 140 minimum to kill legionaires bacteria. If you have motion sensors on the lights in your home they will not work with fluorescent bulbs. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Posted February 15, 2010 at 3:03:34 PM


SPEARSHAKER

I now know what the problem is in regard to man made Global Warming- Al Gore and his desire for our hard earned money. (Peace Prize anyone?)What a joke!

And the recent admission of fraud by the "scientist"

that conceived of this debacle is proof of data manipulation to fool the public--the sad thing is that those perpetrators of this total scam will be very reluctant to admit their mistakes and by so doing lose face. I'd appreciate a public retraction of support from the likes of Oprah Winfrey who stood by "goo-goo-eyed" while Al Gore made his pitch on her program- she influences a bunch of people- sometimes wrongly.

Posted February 15, 2010 at 7:46:26 PM


MelP

Life is defined in four words. Life is.."correspondence with the environment"! The Mental side of life is thinking, feeling and willing. The Key to Thinking is knowledge. Where do we get our knowledge..by correspondening with the environment! Our friends and surroundings, i.e. family, friends, the street, movies, TV, video games, etc. do shape our thought process. Are we in control of our lives? Is this advertisement the beginning of another effort by Hollywood to plant the liberal thoughts and agendas in our minds leading towards acceptance as they have with many other social paradigms???? Scary wasn't it!!!!!!!

Posted February 18, 2010 at 11:55:21 AM


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