Liberal Vision

What part of my life dont they want to pontificate on?

I am not sure where I have been for the last six months but I have somehow missed the “change4life” campaign. By accident I caught one of the ads on TV last night telling me that our kids should do 60 minutes exercise a day (featuring a very spooky “Morph” type character and an even spookier sounding kid doing the voice over).

A bit of research and I realise I have missed an entire series. Now, I can see why the Whitehall boys think that we need to be told to get our kids off their lazy backsides and go “do something” active. I can hear the argument …..the cost of the campaign=X (comparatively trim figure), compared to the cost of treating lots of obese people=Y (huge lardy figure). 

But this is just relentless. I am being bombarded now with commandments from the holier-than-thou anonymous men in suits. I must think! about motorcycles when out and about in my car; watch my alcohol units;  eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day; be on the constant lookout for salt sneaking its way into my diet; sneeze into a paper tissue and not touch anything until i have properly disinfected myself; find myself a “flu-buddy”; stop smoking; start exercising; accept that if I dont switch off my tv set at night and move to energy-saving light bulbs I will personally be responsible for global warming  the destruction of the entire planet; pay my TV licence (because they know where I live), fill in my tax return on time (ditto), ensure my car is taxed (ditto) and on and on and on….

If its not threatening its just downright patronising. As far as the government is concerned I am either an idiot or a criminal. Their mission to make me the model citizen is so zealous that the government was,by the way, the single largest advertiser in the UK in 2008.

Where  is this all leading? We have a government that clearly believes that the care and education of every child in the country is their responsibility- parents are no more than short term domestic care. As for adults, we clearly cant be trusted to do anything for ourselves.

No wonder we no longer look out for our neighbours, or step in when we see a couple of young men giving someone a bit of grief, turn our back on litter bugs, and ignore the cries from the kids next door. We can hardly be trusted to get to the shops and back so what right do we have to interfere in other peoples business? The government is using our money to turn us all into zombies incapable of thinking for ourselves. Ever reliant on the great paternalistic state that knows best. This isnt Big Bother. This is Big Daddy.

Please make it stop. It’s not just a reigning back of government spending we need, but a total curtailing of this nannying attitude. Lets expect people to take responsibility for their own health, actions and care of their kids. Enough is enough.