Banality of evil — beware the Nanny State

I like to live in a well organized society. I don’t mind high taxation if it means all citizens get quality free education, free health…

I like to live in a well organized society. I don’t mind high taxation if it means all citizens get quality free education, free health care, ubiquitous public services (including transportation), clean air, clean water, and a lot of cultural content.

But I do mind ceding power to the state when it comes to deciding whether I’m fit to function in the society.

I bought an old house

Well, old is a relative term, but I live in Canada, on the west coast, where written history is barely 150 years old. The house I bought was built in 1906, when there were barely any houses in Vancouver. My house is probably the first house in my neighborhood; it was most likely built by some local farmers.

My house is very well built, as is amply obvious from the fact that it withstood the harsh Pacific Northwest climate for hundred and sixteen years. No structural damage to the house, no repairs were ever made. Everything intact.

Back in the day, they knew how to build quality houses (of course, back then they had unencumbered access to prime quality lumber). But the fact remains that the house was built by completely different standards from what the government regulations require today.

I cannot get appliances for my house

OK, so great. Fantastic house in a good location. What could go wrong?

Well, I decided to upgrade the appliances in my kitchen and I bought a nice looking gas range. I wanted to replace my old one, which is almost 10 years old.

The gas range got delivered, and they informed me that, unlike with my last purchase, this time the government regulates that a special crew must do the installation (last time, back in 2013, the guy who delivered the gas stove was the guy who installed it, and hauled the old one; all on the same day).

OK, new government regulation. I understand. Sure, I’ll pay $200.00 more (feels a bit like racketeering, but okay).

Today the installation crew arrived and promptly informed me, on the spot, that they cannot install my gas range. Why? Because it would be illegal to do so!

What?!? I legitimately purchased that gas range from a government-approved store (Home Depot). What could be illegal about that?

Well, sir, you see, your house is old and you don’t have the exhaust vent in the ceiling about the stove nor do you have the sprinklers above the stove. Also, you are required to have tiles installed on your back and on your side walls.

But, but, but, how come back in 2013 none of those things were required?

Well, sir, the government keeps upping the code, beefing it up. It’s all for your own safety.

So, let me see if I got this straight

OK, so now here I am, after spending thousands of dollars on a product that is legitimately manufactured and sold in Canada, and I am being treated as a criminal? What gives?

Sir, we don’t make those regulations, we merely enforce them.

Can this situation be grandfathered? (I asked, clutching straws).

Let us speak with our supervisor, sir.

(After a couple of minutes on the phone in front of me, you can hear that their supervisor kind of told them to just walk away; not worth the hassle of installing it in a way that breaks the code and risking to be sued at some later time).

So now what? Much to my shock, the guys turned to me and said: “You install it. It’s super easy. We’ll pretend we didn’t see you doing that!”

WTF?!? So, the government now deems that my configuration is unsafe for installing the gas stove, and yet the experts are telling me it’s perfectly fine to do it, just as long as they don’t do it (and pretend they didn’t see me do it)? How messed up is that?

OK, who is protecting who here? The government is obviously tightening the screws on us, little by little, like boiling a frog. Few years ago it was okay to install a gas stove in a hundred year old house, but fast forward to 2022, and it’s suddenly illegal to do so.

And it’s for my own safety? Well, if that’s the case, and if the government deems natural gas to be a dangerous, hazardous technology, why are they allowing gas pipes installed in my house? Don’t they have safer technology for the taxpaying citizens?

Obviously, they don’t have anything ready made to replace the technology that they deem ‘hazardous’. So, they just shove some new idiotic code down our throats.

Where does this leave us?

Let’s think about the ramifications of this situation. As the government keeps increasing the stringency of various regulations and codes, the net result is:

a) Tax paying citizens such as myself are now going to think twice before purchasing any products that could get over-regulated — not worth the hassle, really

b) This opens a fertile ground for the black market; instead of doing things the legit way, why don’t we go on craigslist and look for some cheap, barely qualified people to take care of installing and hauling etc.?

Neither of the above scenarios bodes well for our freedoms. To me, the biggest value of my civil liberties is the fact that I am protected from having to mess with the black market — Canada is a civilized country where if citizens can afford to legitimately purchase something, they can also legitimately enjoy their purchases without being blocked by some tightfisted government regulations.

If that arrangement gets compromised, Canada will quickly erode into a banana republic, meaning it will get corrupt down to the marrow.

We must send the strong message to our governments to stop treating us like idiots, trying to protect us from ourselves, and to recognize that if we are capable of earning a living and paying all the taxes to them, we are also capable of knowing how to safely enjoy the goods and services our economy is offering us.