This is a political cartoon from the Chicago Tribune, April 21, 1934.
Planned Economy or Planned Destruction?
We are apparently pursuing the same, stupid policies that the Progressives did during the Great Depression. Is there anyone out there who believes it will end up differently?
We could have told them so—that is, if they would ever listen.
I’m talking about the Leftists (Environmentalists and Socialists) who insist on changing aspects of society without having anything acceptable with which to replace them. That goes for products as well. Spokane County, WA is learning this the hard way. The Greens up North thought they could just pass a mandate forcing everyone to use low-phosphate dish detergents, and that would save the environment, they would feel good about protecting the planet, and everyone would be happy.
Not so fast there, pal.
It turns out the green detergents don’t work. Phosphate is what makes detergents work. If you remove the active ingredient, what do you get? Just a bunch of white powder that won’t even get you high. Useless garbage.
So the people in Spokane are doing what people naturally do when they can’t get what they want in their own neighborhoods; they go to the next state over–Idaho. So now there is a booming black market for effective dish soap purchased in Idaho, where there are no silly phosphate restrictions, and people can actually have clean dishes.
The funny thing is that the law doesn’t prohibit ownership or use of high-phosphate detergents, only the sale of those products. The end results is that people will naturally purchase the products where it is legal to sell them and bring them back into the state, completely negating the intent of the law in the first place. That’s just stupid.
The Communists figured out how to keep people from leaving. I’m afraid that’s what these morons might try next.
I’m an asthma sufferer. I’ve had it since birth. It flares up when I get around specific allergens, like dander from horses, cats, and certain breeds of dogs. It also flares up in the cold, or when I run. My case isn’t life-threatening, but it isn’t fun either.
For example, I cannot go visit my in-laws, my sister, or some of my friends unless I am willing to deal with asthma for a week afterward; they all have dogs or cats. I can’t run any appreciable distance. If I go camping, I have to take an inhaler, just in case.
The inhalant I have found to be very effective is the tried-and-true albuterol inhaler. It typically cost me about $25.00 and would sometimes last more than a year. But beginning Jan. 1, 2009, that inhaler will no longer be legal to sell in the US. You see, the CFCs used as a propellant are allegedly destroying the ozone layer.
Never mind the fact that the hole we have supposedly created in the ozone layer comes and goes on its own from year to year, and appears to repair itself. Never mind that the hole in the ozone layer only appears above the only unpopulated continent on the face of the planet. Never mind that the amount of CFCs used to propel albuterol is environmentally insignificant now that CFCs have been banned in everything else. The pretend hole in the ozone layer is more important than the health and well-being of the people on this planet.
The new inhaler is not even half the size of the old one. Why? Because they don’t want the public to spend more money than they did before. That might arouse suspicion. So now you are paying about twice as much as you were before for medication that, for some people, is necessary to preserve life.
Who is hurt the most by this change in price? The poor people. Asthma does not distinguish between rich or poor. And in fact, if you are in a lower income tax bracket, you will likely receive less treatment for asthma than someone in a higher bracket. Poor people tend to not have insurance, and so have to pay on their own. They will be even less able to pay for the inhalant now than they used to be.
Did you ever wonder why the Left in America is so adamant that we must provide free health care to everyone? There are a couple of reasons. First is to assuage their guilt. They know perfectly well that their policies affect people financially, and they know that people of lesser income are most deeply affected by those policies. Therefore, they devise programs to make up for the harm they would otherwise be causing people, which is the second reason: to provide cover for their bad policies. Once their guilt has been satisfied, they can proceed to subject everyone else to the tyranny that results from their oppressive and draconian regulations. There is no good liberal policy. All policies emanating from the Left are designed to hurt people in at least one way. The frightening part is that the Left never seems to be able to see the consequences of their policies before they are put into action.
So, with this new inhaler will come new efforts to bring health care under the umbrella of government “services.” There are already reports of people being sensitive to the new medication, and thus unable to take it. The inhaler must be meticulously cleaned after each use to prevent a build-up of medication in the nozzle, which would then prevent the medication from being dispensed. That was not a problem with the old inhaler. Furthermore, the drug companies were forced into investing their money in these new products against their will by the government. So much for free enterprise.
Unless I miss my guess, the old inhaler will still be available outside the US. If I want what works, I will just have to go to Mexico to get it. Unfortunately, most of the people who need this medication the most won’t be able to afford the trip to get it. I predict a rise in asthma-related deaths in the next two years. Who will be to blame? The American Left, specifically the enviro-fascist wing.
What I am left wondering is, when all the CFCs have been banned, and the hole in the ozone continues to behave as it now does, can we then finally put them all on trial for crimes against humanity?
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