Where does it end??

The utopianists continue their quixotic quest for a perfectly safe world in which nothing bad can happen...

People who hope to beat the summer heat by swimming, floating or boating on rivers in King County must wear a life vest or face an $86  fine.  The new rule was prompted by safety concerns because excessive mountain snowpack could make area waterways particularly dangerous this summer.
"We are looking at a potentially deadly situation," Phillips said.
It applies to people tubing, rafting, using a surfboard, canoe or kayak.
Swimmers or people wading more than 5 feet from shore or in water more than 4 feet deep would also have to wear life vests.
Authorities say there were 17 drowning deaths on major county rivers between 2005 and 2009.

Sometimes I wonder how the human race managed to survive before all these protective laws were passed.  Is it tragic that roughly four people a year in that region died in drowning accidents?  Absolutely.  But focusing the already formidable and ever-increasing power of The State to compel the use of lifejackets if someone's splashing around more than 60 inches from dry land seems gross overkill.

I have absolutely no problem with this local government running an education campaign to tell people "hey -- this isn't your usual swimming season -- take extra care out there."  Then let people make up their own minds how best to spend their time and what precautions to take.  In a word, give people info and let them take responsibility for themselves.

The rate we're going, there'll soon be fines for being outdoors more than 5 minutes without wearing SPF 60 sunblock, drinking from garden hoses or engaging in any kind of sport without full body armor.  Heck, once the government's running healthcare, it'll probably be mandatory to log your daily consumption of approved foods, and report for exercise every day. 

At that point, those who fail to show proper love and enthusiasm for their ever-protective Big Brother will be sent to Room 101 to be shown the error of their ways...

For all tyranny does not come with tanks and jackboots. Tyranny also creeps in, like the fog, "on little cat feet." Softly, soothingly. Tyranny carries a nicely lettered sign on which it says, "This is being done for the public good." Tyranny is sly. It whispers to you and says, "You and I know what the best thing is to do. But those poor people over there are not as fortunate as you and I. They do not have the wisdom to know that what we want is really for their own good."   -- Tom Dillon, 1963