...This Isn't Communist China

So, with my free rentals from Corporate Video, LLC (Blockbuster), I rented Reno 911 last night. I watched the first four episodes, which were actually incredibly funny. In one episode, the police were attempting to arrest a half-naked man who had overstayed his hotel visit making a "cinema verite" movie with himself, a blow-up doll, and some KY jelly. The man kept screaming, "This is America, I can do what I want," and then persisted in singing the Star-Spangled Banner, while the officers wrestled with him on the bed. Later on, Lt. Jim Dangle kept commenting, "This isn't Communist China, were we tell people what to do," when he really wanted to criticize a fellow officer's fiance.
Now, my old college friend Jared has a blog that I occasionally read about his life in China. What is happening to Christians, Muslims, Falun Gong, Democracy advocates, etc... in China is pretty horrible. However, when you read Jared's list of 10 Government Guidelines, it sounds like such a wonderful way to run a society.

Don't spit just anywhere

Don't litter

Don't damage public property

Don't ruin the grass and plants

Don't carelessly cross the road

Don't smoke at bus stops

Don't use rude or profane words

Don't scribble or paste items just anywhere

Don't chaotically pile up/stack or occupy space

Don't urinate/defecate just anywhere

Of course, all of these things are small things, but they add up to common courtesy. Now the best joke of Reno 911 is that, although we believe we live in a "free society," the police can and do have a considerable level of control over what we do. The punchline of liberty, of course, is that the one who has it has to take it from one who doesn't. If I'm free to buy a brand new jetski, that means 100 people in Vietnam have to live in excreable conditions, and all the people who are vacationing near me have to put up with the noise and the wake from my jetski. Not only that, but all the nature lovers have to watch me endager their beloved wildlife, etc...
On the other hand, Jared's complaint is, that in a "Communist" country, they can't even seem to make people follow a few basic rules. This reminds me of my experience in Philadelphia. For all of you who ever plan to have contact with Middle Schoolers, one way they attempt to get out of trouble is by pretending like they never ever heard before that it was wrong to blow up their little sister's barbie with an M-80.
So, as we were walking through Philadelphia we were leaving Constitution Hall, where we had all been issued tickets. I saw a gaggle of girls drop their tickets on the sidewalk.

Me: Ladies, pick up your tickets. That's littering and it's against the law.
Young Lady: Really, I didn't know it was illegal in Pennsylvania. I thought that there were different laws than in Virginia.
Me: Well, it's illegal everywhere, and I don't care if it's illegal, it's just plain rude.

Anyways, the point is, freedom to poop outside is freedom to drink contaminated water. Freedom to pollute is the freedom for children to die of mercury poisoning. Freedom to use private social security accounts is freedom for old people to eat cat food everyday until they die. Finally, freedom to pursue mammon is the freedom to starve. Those who live by the dollar will die by the dollar.