Yet another quote from Ayn Rand’s “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal,” also from Alan Greenspan’s essay “The Assault on Integrity,” I cannot help but think of Mayor Bloomberg and his various attempts at “protecting” consumers, whether it be from saturated fats, sugary drinks (some of them any way), or lack of exercise (by passing a law “encouraging” the use of stairs).

The hallmark of collectivists is their deep-rooted distrust of freedom and of the free-market processes; but it is their advocacy of so-called “consumer protection” that exposes the nature of their basic premises with particular clarity.  By preferring force and fear over incentive and reward as a means of human motivation, they confess their view of man as a mindless brute functioning on the range of the moment, whose actual self-interest lies in “flying-by-night” and making “quick kills.”

Every time I read about lawmakers wanting to pass laws to restrict the choices of individuals, “for their own good” of course, it always comes across as “You are too fat and stupid to make your own decisions, so we will force you to make good ones.”