Train Track Deaths

I read with sorrow the news of the three recent deaths on local train tracks (Oct. 16). The loss of life was wrenching. But something else disturbed me about these stories as well: The familiar calls for more “protection” and “laws” to prevent such accidents. Once again, someone wants government and business to step in and shepherd us through life.

Why have we become a nation of children looking for a baby sitter? What ever happened to the notion of accepting responsibility for oneself? It is both futile and dangerous to continuously increase our demands that government keep us out of trouble by making our choices for us.

These accidents and the attendant cry for more regulation are an allegory for what has gone awry with our federal government. Every time there is hardship, bad luck, or simply bad judgment, we turn to government to bail us out or erect some elaborate scheme to save us from our own decisions. But we don’t seem to have grasped that it costs money. Our money. We want the handouts, the regulations, the forced retirement savings, etc., etc. but we don’t want to pay for them. That’s why we’re $4 trillion in debt.

We must stop acting like a nation of toddlers, bursting into tears at every bad turn, and asking government to make it all better. Either that, or start shelling out 50% or more of our incomes to pay this gargantuan nursemaid.

WARNER R. BROADDUS

San Diego