Strong central governments want best trees for themselves

 Last week, I attended a seminar about hybrid vehicles and how to service them. Although I have worked primarily in automotive service for the last 25 years, the class was most enlightening: Suffice to say, hybrids are a different breed. One particularly intriguing and complex system pre-heats the cylinder head of the internal combustion engine to assure low emissions when starting.

"Wait a minute," I asked. "Would the manufacturer have gone that direction if not mandated -- forced -- to do so by the federal government?"

The answer, of course, is a resounding "no".

Don't misunderstand. I am pro-clean air (I breathe it), pro-clean water (I drink it), and even pro-clean socks (I wear them), but please consider this: The world has witnessed the meltdown of most of the auto manufacturing industry, a bulwark of the American economy and a component of our global power since the early days of the 20th century. Think of the government mandates that our former "Big Three" and others must contend with and the costs they add: Safety, emissions, fuel economy, etc. Last May, the Obama administration mandated that by 2016 the average fuel economy will be 35.5 miles per gallon. I hope this can be done, and that the resulting products are cars that people will actually buy.

Are you at all troubled that powerful central governments exercise so much control over private businesses -- not to mention individuals?

If you are a lefty, I know your answer: "There must be an 'authority' to oversee and 'protect' us all." After all, we're incapable of making it without the wise guidance of those well-intentioned souls Reagan often referred to as "do gooders."

Consider the massive number of public service announcements with which the feds bombard you. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- remember, this is a bureaucracy -- teaches us about "fatherhood involvement," "preventing childhood obesity" and "mental health recovery for an African-American audience," which I find particularly strange and condescending to that racial group. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (first I have heard of that one) wants men to know that we should visit the doctor ... and that goes for Hispanic people also. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (huh?) wants us to know that kids shouldn't drink alcohol.

Good call.

I have heard the radio spot about lupus so many times that I recently became convinced that I had it -- until I found that 90 percent of the people it impacts are "women of childbearing age."

You can visit the Ad Council's Web site to see the list of all these beneficial campaigns, mostly dreamed up by government agencies that you have never heard of.

In the 1700s in colonial America, representatives of the king of England surveyed the forests and marked the best trees for his majesty's use.

The colonists, in typical American character, made sure to harvest those trees first ... and not for the king.

Have a great week; think for yourselves; and keep your chain saw sharpened.