Those freedom loving eco-socialists.
Perusing the deluge of overheated press releases from the CES conference a few weeks ago, one in particular, for Panasonic’s new line of EVOLTA batteries, got me thinking. And when I say “thinking,†I mean muttering curse words and shaking my fist. The release made a big deal about the fact that these new batteries last from 1.3 to 2 times as long as other alkaline batteries—which is to say, slightly less poisonous and wasteful, but not much. Whoopdee-flipping-doo.Now I’m going to make a sweeping pronouncement, a real doozy. Are you ready? Here goes: Disposable batteries, no matter how efficient, should be considered a controlled substance and, as such, should be sold under the same restrictions as, say, prescription drugs or guns.
Yes, you can leave your “Assault & Battery†jokes in the comments.
The guy has some decent ideas later in the article that could easily be worked into the free market by businesses such as Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, etc., to see if they’re workable. But this guy wants government mandates and fines.
What happened in these people’s childhoods that led them to believe that more government regulation is a good thing?
I’ve got $20 on “Drops on the headâ€.
You can leave your answers to that question in the comments as well.
The market is not ready for the rechargeable culture just yet, though. It requires a HUGE investment, something akin to buying guns, to equip all your battery-driven stuff with good rechargeables.
I’ve been looking for D-size NiMH rechargeables, and the best price I’ve found is at C Crane, and they are $14.95 each there. Since I have equipment needs totaling around 30-40 D-cells, to have just enough to change everything would be 80 cells, or $1,200. That is absurd, so I’ll keep using tossers.
“What happened in these people’s childhoods that led them to believe that more government regulation is a good thing?”
The programming in the public education system.
Not going to solve this thing peacably, in a more general sense, not just with the battery thing, I can tell you that.
It’s all going straight down the tubes and I’ve long since resigned myself to having to do the worst things imaginable to keep my freedom. Just think hard about what that dolt would have some law do to you if you were caught with “contraband batteries,” or some other non-sense.
I hope other come to the same conclusion too.