An article recently appeared in the local newspaper concerning the issue of body piercing. This trendy fad seems to be constantly gaining popularity among teenagers across the nation. It has also seen the number of teenagers visiting their doctors increase as well. One of the major problems concerning the "art" of body piercing is the fear of infection. Teenagers who do not take the proper precautions when poking holes in their bodies run a serious risk of infection, or some other type of serious disease that associates itself with unsanitary needles. In order to sideline this growing problem, the government has decided to take the reigns of the issue and step in; what a surprise. Our big brother in Lansing has taken it upon himself to decide what is best for the general population, and is going to attempt to protect us from ourselves. This is simply another way for the government to poke its nose into the lives of its
citizens and tell them how they can or cannot live. All personal decisions should be left up to the individuals whose lives would be affected as a result of that decision. Insane government regulations are not only intrusive into the private lives of the citizens, but they are unnecessary, and extremely expensive.

There is currently a bill in the state legislature that would require all tattoo parlors and piercing shops to either acquire a state license in order to operate, or face dire consequences at the hands of our loving statesmen. This may seem like small peanuts to the average citizen, but it has been the trend of our government to slowly take away a couple rights at a time, always promising that the next right they take away will be the one to grant the population total prosperity. When someone looks at this bill, they think 'no big deal', but in reality, if one takes a look at prior legislation passed by our state government, it becomes clear that Joe Citizen's rights are slowly being taken away, one at a time. It is ridiculous to think that the government feels its citizens are too incompetent to make decisions for themselves. The question is, what's next? It is only a matter of time before every household has a government agent stationed in it to spoon-feed the inhabitants every morning and wipe their rear ends when they finish their business in the rest room. The idea of individual liberty seems to be something of the past when it comes to the government's assessment of the people it is supposed to represent.

Government has oozed into the life of every American, whether it was welcome or not. The government tells the individual that he must wear a seat belt when he is driving his car, even though the only person he would be endangering is himself if he chose not to. The government now tells the individual that he must wear a helmet when riding a bicycle, and that he can't cure his ills without using drugs that have been approved by the FDA. People are at the mercy of the government when it comes to the products they purchase at the supermarket, or the web pages they want to visit on the internet. Each one of these issues seem minuscule when looked at individually, but when one steps back and takes a look at the big picture, it becomes clear that government has manifested itself into every function of daily life, from the child-decapitating airbags that we have in our cars, to the shows we watch on television. The government, from the bigwigs in Washington, right down to Mr. Homan at the Plainfield Township offices, has grown much too large and intrusive. It is far too inconvenient for our citizens to weigh the issues and make decisions for themselves. Today, the government steps right in and makes that decision for him.

Where does all of the money come from to fund these absolutely heinous programs? It comes directly from the pocket of the taxpayer. Money that could be used to put food on the table, or for grandma's hip replacement is involuntarily seized out of every worker's paycheck and fed straight into another useless government program. People today don't even have the opportunity to decide where their money is going. Over 800,000 American families involuntarily sent their income tax directly to South Korea in 1997, via the Federal Government. Money that could have been sent to help American families with American problems was sent halfway around the globe. The issue is not about whether or not the United States should fund Korean programs. The issue is about where the government's priorities are. It is obvious that the Washington politicians are more concerned with digging ditches in Korea than feeding and educating underprivileged families. Why must this nation search the globe to find poor, homeless people, when there are millions of them in our own backyards? The fact is, the government never will, the government never will put the taxpayer's money into programs that people actually agree with. This is why charitable people should be left to their own devices when it comes to aiding the poor. They will do a much better job that the government ever could.

It is time for Americans to adopt a zero-tolerance policy against big government regulations. Throughout history, people have prospered when they have been allowed to make decisions for themselves. While our government is heading towards economic collapse, our representatives are quibbling about whether or not people should be able to poke holes in their own bodies. What's wrong with this picture? Big government politics simply do not work. It took a war, and the death of millions of people to prove that fascism was not the ideal government. It took the collapse of the Soviet Union to prove that communism was not the ideal government. Both fascism and communism are based on central planning by one man or a group of individuals. Both structures failed miserably. They may have prospered momentarily, but in the end, both the 3rd Reich and the Soviet Union came crashing down. It is only a matter of time before the people of this nation realize that this welfare state that we are living in is not the ideal government. It is time for America to return to the ideals of its founding fathers. It is time for America to begin respecting the Constitution that so many Americans have fought and died for. It is time for America to prosper once again, the way that it prospered before the government began to interfere in the lives of every citizen.