How Government Destroys Character

So, we're standing in line at the reception desk at the UCSF Oncology Clinic. In all the time we've been going there I've never seen a line this long- an unpleasant surprise, to be sure.

The lady in front of us had a San Francisco Examiner newspaper and was browsing through it while waiting. I couldn't help notice the title of what she was reading, or about to read; How Government Destroys Character.

I was surprised to see that in a Bay Area paper and figured I had to read that one. Unfortunately, after she checked in, she wandered off and I never bothered to track her down and see if I could have the paper when she was done.

I think that was partly because the Examiner stopped charging for their paper some time ago and I figured I could find one somewhere. If nothing else, I figured I could find the commentary on the internet.

Did a quick search on UCSF's public access iMacs and came up blank. Tried it when I came home and found it quick enough, the mistake I made earlier on being looking under Politics, rather than Opinion.

So here it is. Actually, I was somewhat disappointed. I thought- or at least was hoping- it might be some hard- hitting commentary from some average Joe who came upon an epiphany and changed his views of the world as he knew it. Nope, the author is a member of The Independent Institute, a libertarian oriented think- tank.

While I agree with his writing, I suspect that, while the commentary may appeal to his fellow libertarians, it won't hit home with Joe and Jill Sixpack. Nonetheless, good to see major papers publishing libertarian thought. Now, if the libertarians could just write stuff that non- libertarians could take to heart.
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Oh, and a short piece by one of my favorites, Steve Greenhut, of the Orange County Register, on a slightly different topic. Might as well throw this one in with my last ditch pre- election campaigneering. Steve shows his skepticism about electoral reform- something we both share and a worthwhile message to spread around, imo.