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March 20th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda TUESDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) — With a recent flood of new
regulations or proposals aimed at governing lifestyle choices such as
smoking, eating or cellphone use, is the United States in danger of
becoming a “nanny state”?
According to a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll, most
Americans remain ambivalent about the issue, agreeing that policies that
aim to protect public health and safety are sometimes necessary, but
believing as well that adults should take responsibility for their own
actions, and consequences for health.
In the online survey of more than 2,200 U.S. adults conducted in late
February, 81 percent of respondents agreed and 33 percent strongly agreed
that laws aimed at protecting public safety — for example, regulations
concerning safe driving or childhood vaccinations — are important to
keeping Americans safe.
More than three-quarters also agreed that such initiatives do actually
work.
But on the other hand, almost two-thirds (61 percent) worried that
these same laws might be too coercive, impeding individual freedoms.
“The public is somewhat schizophrenic about laws and policies that are
intended to improve health and safety and reduce injuries and accidents,”
said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll. “Most people favor
many regulations that protect them but they worry about our becoming a
‘nanny state.’ “
Pollsters quizzed respondents on 14 different policies, laws and
programs intended to improve health and safety.
“Most of the 14 policies, programs and regulations in our survey are
supported by large majorities of adults, and some of them are strongly
supported,” Taylor said.
For instance, virtually all (91 percent) supported a ban on texting
while driving, while 74 percent “strongly” supported this initiative.
Other road-safety initiatives that garnered majority support were
banning talking on cellphones while driving (70 percent supporting, 43
percent strongly supporting); requiring motorcycle riders to wear helmets
(82 percent supporting, 57 percent strongly supporting); requiring
cyclists to wear helmets (73 percent supporting, 42 percent strongly
supporting); and the mandate to wear seat belts (86 percent in favor, 66
percent strongly in favor).
Respondents also backed up many nutrition-related measures, such as
those requiring eating establishments to reveal nutritional information on
menus (78 percent supporting, 34 percent strongly supporting); regulations
in the offing to reduce the salt content of packaged food (68 percent
supporting, 27 percent strongly supporting); and eliminating unhealthy
trans fats in restaurants (62 percent in favor, 26 percent strongly in
favor).
The regular round of childhood vaccinations (mumps, measles, whooping
cough, tuberculosis and polio) also received 86 percent positive votes
with 55 percent strongly positive.
A smaller majority (61 percent) also favored giving the controversial
human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine — which shields against cervical and
other cancers — to children aged 11 and 12, and about one-quarter
strongly supported the idea.
Banning smoking in restaurants and public places, a regulation which is
gradually gaining ascendency in different regions of the United States,
received 80 percent “pro” votes. Fifty-eight percent strongly supported
these types of prohibitions.
Majorities did oppose three policies, however: employers citing obesity
as a reason not to hire (76 percent opposed, 43 percent strongly opposed);
employers not hiring smokers (65 percent opposed, 34 percent strongly
opposed); and the taxing of sugar-sweetened soft drinks (62 percent
against, 37 percent strongly against).
And even as they supported many individual initiatives aimed at
protecting the public good, 81 percent of respondents agreed that
individuals should take responsibility for their own actions and “be free
to make their own decisions, even if they suffer as a result.”
One expert stressed that a balance must be struck between maintaining
both public health and individual freedoms.
“In an interdependent society, there do need to be protocols that
protect people from each other and also enable us to protect ourselves,”
said Philip Howard, chairman of Common Good, a nonprofit organization that
champions legal reform.
While most of the regulations mentioned in this survey were supported,
Howard, who is also the author of The Death of Common Sense, said
that there are “a million regulations that Americans would agree are
nonsensical.”
These might include teachers being required to fill out so many forms
that they no longer have time to teach, or extremely complicated
reimbursement policies for government-funded insurance.
“Talking on the phone and texting while driving are actively dangerous
for other people,” he reasoned. “Unvaccinated children dramatically
increase the risk of other people getting diseases.”
However, regulation can also go too far, Howard noted. “In a crowded
society, you want protocols and regulations that protect us from each
other and give us information,” he said. “What you don’t want is
micromanagement.”
More information
For more on the hazards of distracted driving, head to the U.S. National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration.
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