lost rights

I've been reading this book titled Lost Rights by James Bouvard, and I'm thinking that I may need to stop reading it. The problem? It feeds my anti-establishment tendencies too much. As if I wasn't already disgusted with our current state of government, this books tells of all kinds of situations and laws in which our rights have been removed, hollowed, or trampled over the years. Worst of all, he has the nerve to include solid references for most of his claims, so I can't just dismiss it as conspiracy theory. What's an angsty tell-it-like-it-is person like myself to do?

Just suck it up. Deal with it. That's all I can do, even on the local level.

When the historic district tells me what colors I am allowed to paint my house, I must obey (even though my house isn't historic, they've extended the boundaries of the historic district to include my neighborhood of homes built in the 70s 80s and 90s - go figure). When I go to do my landscaping, I can't plant anything within ten feet of my property line, because there is an easement that basically makes it city property. I also need to pa for a permit if I want to do any work in my own home - whatever. I can't cut trees down if I want to...which I don't, but if I did, well...

But this is the way of the world. We just have to deal with unjust things like this, and it's not just the government. These days, it seems that fighting gets you nowhere. When I get billed wrong for my medical insurance, I can spend like twelve hours on the phone with them trying to get it cleared up (and since time equals money, it probably equals the amount I have been overcharged), or I can just suck it up and pay the bill myself. Even if I spend the time to get the bill corrected, the best I can hope for is for them to pay what they should have. I (of course) get nothing for my inconvenience.

When I go to Burger King, and my burger looks *nothing* like the picture, do I demand that they make it look right? When I go to the grocery store and they overcharge for my produce, is it worth it to go back in, stand in line, and demand my twenty cents per pound that they overcharged for my bananas? Nope. When a moving van backed into my mailbox, do you think I bothered calling the number the driver gave me for his slick truck accident lawyers so I could get them to pay the $50 to fix it? Yeah, right. I just let it slide, and chances are you would, too.

These days, there is red tape everywhere, and it is in place for one reason - because they know that most people don't have the time or patience to deal with it. We would rather avoid the stress and confrontation, let things slide, and allow ourselves to be ripped off. And that is why the cycle continues...and continues to worsen.

I'm as much to blame as the next guy. I don't speak out as much as I should (except perhaps on this blog). The same goes for the government and our rights. I don't like it, but I don't do much about it. Sure, I can blame it on the Patriot Act these days, as any indication that you don't like the government is means for being branded as a terrorist. But the truth is that I'd rather focus on the good things in life. Let's just hope that we don't wake up one day and find that all the good things have disappeared.