BURGER-BASHING
BUREAUCRATIC BANDITS ENTITLEMENT OR RESPONSIBILITY In the past few weeks, Nebraska has made the headlines in an unflattering manner. The Government shut down the Hudson Beef Processing Plant in Columbus to inspect the plant for E- Coli bacteria. Between 15-20 people in Colorado became sick after eating hamburger processed at the Columbus plant. This happened back in June. Most of the people that got sick had been on a cookout. Scientists say that 2% to 5% of all beef contains E- Coli that refrigeration or freezing will not kill. The easiest way to assure that any possible E- Coli is killed is by cooking the hamburger thoroughly. If the hamburger is brown on the inside, it should be done. To assure that all E-Coli is destroyed, all one has to do is use a food thermometer and make sure the hamburger has reached 160 degrees. If cooked at 160 degrees, all E- Coli bacteria is killed. Also, hands should be washed in hot soapy water before preparing and eating food. Hands should be washed after any time you come in contact with raw meat. All cooking utensils used to prepare the raw hamburger should be washed in hot soapy water before being used with the cooked meat or other food. Another risk of contamination is introduced when using the same platter that the raw hamburger was on to carry the cooked burgers. Any bacteria that was in the raw meat could still be alive and re-infect the burgers. Therefore, common sense tells us that maybe the people got sick in Colorado because either they didn't cook the hamburgers enough, or they didn't follow Ben Franklin and every mother's advice, "cleanliness is next to Godliness." The story should end there; but, as we all know, that was just the beginning. Like many of us, August was vacation time for politicians. Congress was in recess. The men and women of congress either headed home to get in touch with their constituents or headed on fact-finding missions to the nicest vacation spots in the world. Martha's Vineyard is reserved for the president and his family to sponge off the idle rich for three weeks. The main news about President Clinton is the pursuit of two of his favorite hobbies, golfing and lying about his golf score. It seemed that all America could relax because the vacationing politicians could not enact ways to take our money or reduce our freedom with more regulations. Unfortunately, in this age of love and bipartisanship, the congress and the President reached a budget deal. So, there was no government shut down where bureaucrats got a couple weeks paid vacation compliments of the rest of us taxpayers. To keep the illusion alive that we can't live without government protecting us from ourselves, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) rode to the rescue. Almost two months after the E- Coli incident, USDA inspectors shut down the Hudson plant in Columbus in order to inspect the plant and find E- Coli. They twisted the arm of Hudson to recall twenty-five million pounds of ground beef. With the media flaming the panic fires, the story went to the top of the headlines. Burger King stopped serving hamburger bought from Hudson in more than 400 restaurants. The irony of that really got the newspapers and TV reporters cranking out catchy headlines. Despite no evidence of any of their Hudson hamburger being tainted, Burger King attempted to get the media off their backs and quench the growing hysteria of the public by announcing they would no longer buy Hudson hamburger. Hudson has lost millions of dollars and announced that it is going to sell the Columbus plant. This plant employs 230 people who pump thousands of dollars into the economy of Columbus and the rest of the state. There is still no evidence that anyone at the plant was responsible for this incident. At minimum, these 230 people and their families have suffered great disruption and potential economic hardship. It is hopeful that they will soon be back to work under a new owner because Iowa Beef Processing has announced its plans to buy the plant and retain the current workforce. Nevertheless, how long until the government finishes its investigation and these people get back to work? I doubt they will get a free paid vacation like the bureaucrats did a couple years ago. Also, this could have a ripple effect on the rest of Nebraska's economy. Nebraska is one of the biggest beef producers in the nation. Currently, the beef business is hurting because of the low price of live cattle. The latest scare could temporarily reduce the demand for beef and further lower the price of cattle. If anyone (other than the people that didn't prepare their burgers properly) is to blame, it is the bureaucrats at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For years now, a safe method of destroying bacteria has been available, but the FDA has withheld its required approval before it can be used. Irradiation is the use of ionizing energy to destroy bacteria. For no better description, ultra-violet rays are used to kill the bacteria. Most scientists agree that the process is perfectly safe. Around forty countries already use the process to treat foods such as onions, fish, wheat, cereal grains and spices. The FDA already allows irradiation for pork, some vegetables, fruits and poultry. Besides promoting safe methods of handling and preparing raw ground beef or speeding up approval of irradiation, Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman calls for congress to give him more money to increase his police force of inspectors. In addition, he wants expanded power to increase regulations over the meat processing industry, despite no proof of improper action in this incident. Sadly, Dan and his merry band of burger-bashing burger bandits will likely get their wish. Why? Because a majority of Americans don't take the time to examine the facts. They hear the headlines and ask to be protected from themselves. They sacrifice a little more of their freedom to gain an illusion that the government can take care of them. Someone doesn't properly prepare the food, then doesn't take responsibility or chalks it up to the old phrase that says, "accidents will happen." Most of us look to find someone to blame, and use the tools of government to absolve ourselves from the consequences of our actions. At the same time, most everyone professes to hate government and wants less of it. Shouldn't we love a government that constantly seeks to improve our lives, absolve us from personal responsibility, and protect us? In his book, the Good Life and its Discontents, economist Robert J. Samuelson has labeled the last half of the 20th century in America as the Age of Entitlement. Government, academia, business and the labor movement all came together in a common belief that America is capable of solving any problem if they all just worked together. Everyone is entitled to increased economic prosperity, a good education, health care, social security, welfare, paid vacations, pure air, sanitized food... The list is endless. This attitude transcends political ideology. Liberal, moderate, and conservative all share at least part of this vision. In many areas, this belief has lead to great success. Economically, this country has boomed over the last fifty years. By virtually all economic indicators, we are wealthier now across all classes than any other time in history. Did your parents or grandparents have television, VCR's, computers, the Internet, air conditioning, washers, and dryers? Then, there is another long list of medical breakthroughs that help us to live much longer lives. We put a man on the moon and ended governmental and most private organizational discrimination. Why, then, in this Age of Entitlement, are there so many people discontented or unhappy with the institutions that have given us so much? Samuelson argues that this is because it is impossible ever to create a utopia where there are no more problems. We can't be content because the more we get, the more we think we need. If for any reason something goes wrong -- if we lose our job or get sick eating a half-cooked hamburger, we feel the promise of the entitlement society has let us down. No matter how hard we try, natural disasters happen. Individual action skews the economic models intended to create ever-expanding wealth. No matter how much we spend to fight poverty, the prophetic words of Jesus Christ still ring true, "the poor will always be with you." The French Revolution, the Russian Revolution and even Nazi Germany, in its early days, made the same promises. However, these utopias soon turned to nightmares of power-hungry maniacs, bringing death and destruction to the people of these nations and many others along the way. I am not suggesting that this is the fate of the United States, but it shows the danger of a false belief that man can create a perfect world. Realizing that we can't solve every problem does not make us defeatists. It allows us to decide what is actually possible. We need to realize that we are responsible for our own actions. The place to start is in each of our personal lives. Most of us realize that personal responsibility is important, but we point out the shortcomings in everyone else instead of ourselves. Saying that a single teenage mother on welfare or a gang member in South Central L.A acted irresponsibly is easy. It is not so easy to say, "I no longer need that farm subsidy," or that with a longer life-expectancy, we should raise the age of retirement. Do you take the responsibility of parenthood and keep a difficult marriage together for the sake of the children, or do you take the easy way out? It might make you feel better; but, the evidence is beyond dispute that in almost every divorce, the children are the ones that pay the price. When you are driving down the highway, do you stop to help someone with car problems? Or, do you just drive on because that person might be a mass murderer? Yes, the good Samaritan is still a virtuous role model. The 21st century is knocking at the door. Instead of letting bureaucratic bandits run our lives, let us renew our duty to be responsible for ourselves and our families. It won't bring utopia, but it can restore some reality and order to our lives. We are in the process of closing the door on the Entitlement Era. I hope that the next era might be the Era of Responsibility. I don't claim to be able to speak for anyone else, but I intend this article to be the first of several discussing the direction I would like to see the country take as we enter a new century. I will address a lot of things that deal with politics, but intend to talk about society as a whole. I hope to motivate those that may read this to join with me to discuss the direction this society should take in the future. Sodbuster allows you to respond by a letter to the editor, or you can respond directly in the Hogwash section. In addition, if you would have a regular, well-written opinion of your own, feel free to write and submit an article for review. |
