If there is one political theme here at Maggie's, it is distrust of the power and of the wisdom of the state. Especially, the remote governmental powers. We have faith in the ability of the individual citizen to make his own choices and decisions according to his own lights. We do believe in collectivism, of the voluntary sort.
Regarding close-up government, in my town, you can walk into our First Selectman's office (if you bring a Starbucks for her with you) or Second Selectman's office, and chat about anything for a bit. They only work 9-3, so you have to bear that in mind. If somebody else is there too, you all chat together. That works for me. We're a small town.
That is sort-of by way of raising this subject of whether the government should have the power to take your fat kid away from you, and charge you with a crime. I don't think so. That's a topic for you, the kid, and the pediatrician.
What if your kid is too skinny? What if she's an early anorectically-minded girl who nibbles on lettuce and is driving you to exasperation? Should that 14 year-old be taken from you while you are charged with felony child-neglect?
I hear all of these stories. Life is full of all sorts of stories. I tend to fall on the freedom side of things. It's messy and things go wrong, but that's the way life is. Freedom to screw up is the closest to utopia we're gonna get.
And, if we are to see government control of medical care, what if I am too fat for their cost statistics? Can they take me away from me?
