MPs are set to vote later today on whether to back a ban on smoking in cars when children are present. And so the nanny state strikes again! Why are they even having such a debate?
We should not stand by and allow the state to take over responsibility for bringing up our children. I say this not because I think neglecting children’s welfare is okay (I don’t) and not because I think the health risks associated with cigarette smoking are exaggerated (I don’t), but rather because I believe we should accept more personal responsibility for our actions and we should guard against delegating excessive power to the state. Where might it all stop? Will we end up legislating against giving children sweets or allowing them to play too many video games? Will we sanction state intervention against parents whose children do not exercise enough?
In his infamous manifesto, Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler wrote: “As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.”
Individual accountability and parental responsibility should be valued, nurtured and encouraged, not mandated by the heavy hand of state authority. We need to reverse the steady erosion of personal liberties that is taking place on a daily basis, lest we become mindless, obedient drones who faithfully serve our institutions and lose our very souls.
