Labor Day Musings, America’s Long Civil War Against Fun
Although 1894 marked the year that the first monday of September became a national holiday celebrating contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country, Labor Day means different things to different people. Until recent years, it marked the start of the NFL season, the end of Summer or the start of serious political campaigning.
History professor Thaddeus Russell has a different spin on why labor day started, and how American history is rife with examples of anti-fun actions. Considering that the Obama administration signed a law that put the FDA to ban the importation of clove cigarettes, it seems that we are steadfastly keeping in that tradition. Clove cigarettes are just the tip here, as of September 22, it is illegal to sell clove or other flavored cigarettes. Except, menthol cigarettes. Funny about that. Here’s some stats that should give you concern, menthol brands account for 28% of the $70 billion in cigarettes sold. Clove and flavored cigarettes combine for less than one percent.
Whether you are a smoker or not, you should be concerned about this ban, because it is the typical nanny-state behavior meddling thing that government has no businesses being in. The unemployment rate, which notoriously under reports anyways, surged to 9.7%, and the commercial real estate market is about to do its version of the residential real estate market with all the complicated mortgage finance securitization and credit default swap problems.
It’s not just government that meddles in the behaviors of people. Corporations decide that employees can’t be trusted in how to use computers, coffee shops ban people with laptops during certain hours. Even the NFL has banned its players and the media from tweeting during games. Maybe the NFL should be concerned about the play that happens on the field instead of on the sidelines. As for banning journalists for tweeting. Maybe they’d like to have banks of pay phones installed for media use and ban mobile phones too. Schools cut recess, and the President says,”I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas,but the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom.”
Really? I think Steve Jobs and Bill Gates would have a different opinion of that, both having dropped out of college and both spurring on the challenges of a new century by actually creating something. Innovation, thinking and all the creativity that spawns from those activities doesn’t come from these antiquated ideas of sitting in classrooms or working in cubes. They come from experimentation and yes, play. The sooner we the public figure out that politicians shouldn’t be moralizing over behaviors the better. That next iPhone app may just be created in a cafe in Paris by someone happily smoking a clove cigarette after all.
