The Nanny State

A while ago I made the comment that there lurks in the heart of many liberals a predilection for totalitarianism. Not that these folks are themselves totalitarians, necessarily, but that the policies they often support push us further down the road toward that end. The comment was not universally well-received by liberal readers, but I stand by it and offer as further evidence of my claim this story out of Brussels by the Telegraph's Bruno Waterfield. His lede reads:

Children are to be banned from taking part in traditional Christmas games, from blowing up balloons to blowing on party whistles, because of new EU safety rules that have just entered into force.

It sounds like a story out of The Onion but apparently it's genuine: The EU toy safety directive, agreed and implemented by Government, states that balloons must not be blown up by unsupervised children under the age of eight, in case they accidentally swallow them and choke.

Despite having been popular favourites for generations of children, party games including whistles and magnetic fishing games are to be banned because their small parts or chemicals used in making them are decreed to be too risky.

Apparently harmless toys that children have enjoyed for decades are now regarded by EU regulators as posing an unacceptable safety risk.

Whistle blowers, that scroll out into a a long coloured paper tongue when sounded – a party favourite at family Christmas meals – are now classed as unsafe for all children under 14.

The new rules are designed to protect children from the chance that a piece of the whistle could be swallowed and cause choking.

There's more at the link. One wonders what the EU regulators will think to ban next. Perhaps children under 14 will be prohibited from eating chicken for fear that the tykes will choke on a bone.

The problem is that bureaucrats have the job of writing regulations. That's what they do, it's what they get paid for and what makes their lives meaningful. So write them they must, no matter how stupid, intrusive, and tyrannical they may be. The last two sentences in the article shed light on the bureaucratic mindset:

Another EU official admitted that the new regulations could be difficult to understand but insisted that safety experts knew best. "You might say that small children have been blowing up balloons for generations, but not anymore and they will be safer for it," said an official.

That's precisely the kind of thinking that leads to Animal Farm.