Are You Ambivalent?

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/hsn/many-americans-ambivalent-over-laws-aimed-at-healthy-living

Can we afford to be "ambivalent"?
The number of us actually against helping our children is infinitesimal.  We all want our children well.
However, we are raising adults, not children.  Do we want a world where we are forced to eat healthy?

We were told that margarine would be healthier - turned out wrong, just different.
We were told that 8 eight-ounce glasses of water per day was healthy - research showed that no research had been done on it and it was just a rumor, not true, and many suffered from over-hydration.

We have filled ourselves with vitamins, the newest herbal remedies, exercise after exercise only to discover that they don't work, they are the wrong type, they have terribly side-effects, etc.

Why should we oppose legislation protecting ourselves from ourselves?
1) We lose control of our own choices.  We may think we are protecting children; we are stealing their rights as well.  That is the trade-off; is it worth it?
2) We give increasing power to the Federal government; is that bad?  Is it good?  How about if it is in the hands of the opposite party?  Would you still want that?  What are you handing your child as a future in that society?
3) Where do we draw the line? (An old but true argument.)
4) What happens if our forced health laws turn out to be wrong?
5) Are we prepared to pay millions in lawsuits as people prove that a law caused them harm?  We pay for that, in taxes, in addition to the huge costs of administering such a law, enforcing the law, and monitoring abuses of the law.

It starts with your child.  What are the rules in the school?  Can they bring cupcakes for a birthday?  Can they bring their own lunch to school?  Can a teacher share a treat with your kids?  What can your teacher eat or drink at school?  At what point is it no longer freedom?  At what point is it worth it to give up that freedom?

Protecting our kids is so important.
But what do we protect them from?  Health mistakes?  Or losing their freedoms?

You get to choose.  But are you ambivalent?

I'm not.  I can see that, even if you have a different goal than I do, that you do not, either.

That's a wonderful thing.