Published: August 20, 2008 12:56 am            

LUCINSKI: Listing the nation’s ‘nanny’ cities

We’ve said it before. We’ll say it again. America loves lists.

We will list just about anything: Best ice cream flavors; worst songs of the rock and roll era; favorite overpriced coffee outlets; drunkest cities (there really is such a list: Denver is No. 1).

You see them on the covers of those magazines at the supermarket checkout: 35 best makeovers; 25 ways to lose 35 pounds; 15 unmentionable ways to treat the opposite sex. Lists, lists, lists.

A list put together by Reason magazine this month is of particular interest. Reason is a publication that advances the libertarian line of thinking: Not liberal, where the government or some other big brother tries to control every aspect of your life because, of course, they know best and you know nothing.

Libertarianism is the exact opposite. A libertarian is fiercely, some say radically, anti-government restrictions, anti-anyone trying to tell you what to do and how to run your life.

The list ranked the 35 largest metropolitan areas in the nation on restriction of personal freedoms. Given its point of view, Reason said the more restrictions, the worse the ranking. The magazine used the term “nanny-state” cities, communities that use a collective opinion on how you should run your life instead of letting you make those personal decisions.

Here are the rankings, from most “nanny” to least:

35. Chicago

34. Seattle

33. New York

32. Boston

31. El Paso

30. San Diego

29. Nashville

28. Houston

27. Los Angeles

26. Charlotte

25. Philadelphia

24. Indianapolis

23. Memphis

22. Columbus

21. Washington, D.C.

20. San Francisco

19. Baltimore

18. San Jose

17. Dallas

16. Cleveland

15. Phoenix

14. Austin

13. San Antonio

12. Oakland

11. Ft. Worth

10. Detroit

9. Atlanta

8. Jacksonville

7. Portland

6. Milwaukee

5. Kansas City

4. Louisville

3. Denver

2. Miami

1. Las Vegas

Now Vegas, the least restrictive, is understandable. It doesn’t get the nickname “Sin City” for nothing. It’s a town where almost anything goes.

Chicago is kind of a surprise, but Reason cites a ban on serving alcohol at all-nude strip clubs, restrictive gun control laws, a public smoking ban and widespread use of surveillance cameras. It also notes that nearly a quarter of Chicago’s precincts are alcohol-free.

The point of all this is not for use as a tour guide (for a good time, go to Las Vegas). It goes deeper than that.

It points out the creeping interference of government into our everyday lives. And it shows how one restriction leads to another.

If you think gun control laws are good, that kind of intrusion of local government on your Second Amendment rights might not bother you too much. But, if you like the occasional glass of wine with dinner and the local government thinks it’s bad and says you can’t, then it’s a travesty.

The natural tendency of government is to “do something.” Politicians get re-elected if they show how they changed things. Never mind that the changes are often meddling, intrusive and ill-advised. They “did something.” And to many of the gullible among us, that’s enough to vote for them in the next election.

So the next time an official says he or she “did something” about some perceived problem, take a closer look. Make sure that what he or she did didn’t simply make matters worse.

Dick Lucinski is the managing editor of the Niagara Gazette.

        

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