Boris Johnson: One of My Favorite Politicians
Almost overnight, London managed to switch from having one of my least favorite politicians as its mayor to one of my favorites. Reading this piece by Boris Johnson, London's new Conservative mayor, has made him one of my top politicians today.
In it, Johnson mocks the uproar he faced when he rode a bicycle helmet-less (the accusation being that he was setting a bad example). This kind of reminds me of Fred Thompson's (another favorite) silly hat rule. Neither of these men is going to B.S. the world by doing something ludicrous with themselves just so that the media can get a high off of it.
But perhaps the most exciting part of this piece is Johnson's understanding of economics:
I have also brooded on the results of some study in Australia, which showed that making bike helmets compulsory deterred so many people from cycling that there was a rise in obesity - and more people ended up dying of heart attacks than were saved by the head-gear.
This, of course, is reminiscent of the seatbelt laws that increase pedestrian deaths, the laws forcing children to have their own seats on airplanes thereby increasing children's highway deaths, and a million other laws designed by "wise" and "knowledgeable" politicians who know what is best for us yet fail to look at the unintended consequences of their intrusive government policies.
And, of course, Johnson provides the icing on the cake:
I was negotiating Knightsbridge with extreme caution when a French tourist walked across the road without looking (you could tell he was French by the noise he made on impact) and, though I sprained my wrist, I felt the real lesson was about teaching tourists to look the right way. If I'd had a foghorn, it might have come in handy, or possibly a cow-catcher fitted to the front of my bike. But a helmet?
I'd like to see an American politician write something like this some time.
Paul Ibrahim
in Big Government, Regulation, Political Correctness, Conservatives, Media
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