Daily Herald editorial

Thank goodness we have the Food and Drug Administration to step in and take over the role of Mom and Dad to today’s children. Yes, that was sarcasm. The last thing Americans needs is more “help” from the government when it comes to managing their own lives (and their children’s). But more help, needed or not, is just what they’re getting from the FDA, which last week released new guidelines for how food should be marketed to children.

Like virtually every such federal effort, the guidelines — which are voluntary for now — seem to make sense. They ask food makers to stop using cute cartoon characters — some, like the Froot Loops mascot, that have been around for generations — and the like to sell sugary cereal and other stuff that kids love. It has become rather clear that American kids don’t need any more sugar or fat in their diets, so many will be prone to nodding along with the FDA’s suggestions. The danger lies in the long-term and cumulative effect of the government cushioning Americans against almost every conceivable decision, and in the apparent belief that parents are too lazy or unintelligent to decide what their kids eat without the government’s help.

This business of the government explaining how to live is a tightening and descending spiral — the more people depend on others for basic life advice the more they will need help and the more advice they’ll be given … and so on. The result will be a nation of people unable to make their own decisions when they really need to.

As well-intentioned as they are, more rules designed to protect Americans from themselves are the last thing we need.