Politicians, Bureaucrats Shocked That Citizens Think They Know What’s Best For Themselves
We’ve gone from government by the consent of the governed to government by bureaucrats and politicians who know better than you do.
A new survey about underage drinking indicates that most North Dakotans think it’s not a big deal. That, naturally, has big-government types upset because. Because how dare we citizens have an opinion on the matter of our own.
“The results of the survey were shocking,” Stenehjem said.
By middle school, one-third of North Dakota students have already used alcohol and 10 percent had their first real drink of alcohol (other than a few sips), before they were 11 years old, according to the most recent state risk behavior survey.
Also, a separate community survey results of attitudes in the state showed that 70 percent of North Dakotans believe it’s not difficult or only slightly difficult for youth to get their parents to give them alcohol.
About a third of the survey takers said that in their community, teens drinking is considered acceptable behavior. And more people think teen drinking is all right than approve of teens smoking.
Don’t worry, North Dakota! The government is on its way to save you from yourselves!
Stenehjem and state Human Services Director Carol Olson said those persistent attitudes, among parents, young people and others in North Dakota are evident in new survey results and has led them to launch a new campaign to lower the incidence of under-age drinking in the state. . . .
As part of the new campaign the state has sent brochures to all parents about under-age drinking, including the criminal laws and the risk of civil liability if they furnish alcohol.
The new education efforts aimed at young people will reach down into grade schools.
North Dakotans don’t have the right sort of attitudes about drinking. So the government is going to educate them. How…Orwellian.
And the justification for all this is Stenehjem’s assertion that drinking leads to crime. But then, when drinking is becoming increasingly criminalized, it’s not surprising that drinking leads to crime.
Stenehjem said North Dakota’s culture that condones drinking shows up in its crime statistics. A quarter of the adults arrested in the state on various crimes in 2007 were arrested for driving while under the influence. And 40 percent of all arrests for crimes in the state were alcohol-related.
Now, I’m not in favor of drunk driving. But it’s worth noting that drunk driving is illegal not because drinking in and of itself is inherently bad but because drunk drivers are dangerous. It’s a public safety concern.
Stenehjem is being rather alarmist about DUI’s in North Dakota. Yes, DUI arrests in the state are up. But that’s because of increased enforcement, not increased incidents of people driving drunk. Despite cops in North Dakota spending more and more tax dollars and law enforcement resources on drunk driving, nothing has changed in terms of public safety. Alcohol-related injuries and fatalities in traffic accidents have remained constant since 2002.
Put simply, Stenehjem and our DUI policies aren’t making North Dakota safer. They’re just putting more people in jail while simultaneously using up more tax dollars.
If North Dakotans want to drink they should be allowed to drink. And if they think their kids should be allowed to drink, then so be it. That’s their choice, and we’re still living in a free country right?
