A Tale Of Two Cities: NYC vs. Kilgarvan, Ireland

I have long reviled New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who keeps puzzlingly being elected, despite his extreme views on personal liberty and the intrusive role of government in citizens lives. However, Sunday marked a new high low for the Mayor, who stated on NBC's "Meet the Press", “I do think there are certain times we should infringe on your freedom."This was in the context of his ridiculous ban on sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces being struck down. However, it is indicative of the broader thinking of this statist slug, and those who share his way of thinking: that government knows more than you do, is smarter than you are, and knows what is best for you. There are very few people on this earth capable of making decisions about what is best for an individual than that individual himself.  Or perhaps that individual in conjunction with a trusted doctor. Everyone else pretty much knows jack about you, your situation and what the best path for living your life would be.Yet, this doesn't stop simpletons like Bloomberg from trying to tell you what you should or should not do, eat, drink, watch, smell, dance on or around, etc., etc. He even wants to have hospitals hide formula and pressure mothers into breastfeeding. Because he knows more than you. Because he feels that his position of power has somehow given him an omnipotent knowledge of all things. I don't know how having a background in the stock market, and designing terminals that provide data on Wall Street to traders equates to a level of realization spanning all medical, social and criminal realities, but somehow Bloomberg has brought that ability into our physical realm. Just like countless other politicians before him have, regardless of their backgrounds.It's quite an amazing contrast to look at the iron-fisted approach Bloomberg attempts to take regularly with his city as opposed to that taken by the Irish city of Kilgarvan. That town has just passed a motion legalizing drinking and driving. Kilgarvan passed the motion to allow some people (additional reports now have revealed it would be on a "permit" basis) to have a few drinks at a local pub and get home on little-used roads, to encourage socialization in a town where the population is spread out. So yes, it's different than if a densely packed metropolis was to pass a similar law, though I would still be for it as there are many good reasons for repealing the Constitutionally-illegal drunk driving laws here. I've had to update this story from the original posted a couple days back, as the source material (NBC) was substantially altered to reflect aspects they had misreported, that were then cited here. To clarify: on a national level, Ireland is stepping up efforts to combat drunk driving, and the practice is still illegal.The lesson to be taken is this: the city of Kilgarvan is trying to trust its citizens to make their own decisions and abide by the consequences of their actions. Nevermind that drunk driving laws are basically worthless - drunk drivers are going to drive drunk if there is a law or not, just as with any other form of substance abuse. Making a law against it isn't going to stop it and if you are going to create laws, base it on dangerous driving devoid of the cause. But the fact that they are saying to their citizens, "look, we know you want to have a couple drinks and we know that it isn'trealistic to use public transportation all the time to get home. So be safe, be careful, and have fun. We trust you," is something to aspire to.This is the way it should be with any substance. There are already penalties in place to punish those who cause damage, death, or any other mishap that infringes on your personal liberty. If an individual causes an accident, that result should be punished accordingly regardless of what the causes may have been. Let people decide for themselves if they can drive or can't drive - they just have to pay the price for their decision if it turns out to be a wrong one. And that applies to everything in life. You make your own decisions and you live with the consequences.Bloomberg should be ashamed of himself, as should anyone that supports him. Though I have a feeling that his fans most likely also subscribe to the cult of "we know better than you," - a cult that seemingly grows daily.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!