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DEAN'S LIST - 06/29/2008
(by Dean Naddeo - OpEd Columnist - July 01, 2008)
Independence lost
For a seven-year-old boy growing up in 1976, the Fourth of July was undoubtedly the most anticipated holiday of the year (save for Christmas, of course). Our great nation was poised to celebrate the first 200 years of its cherished independence, and this meant that there would be fireworks, and lots of them.
The darkness did not disappoint. Dads and big brothers had done well to provide each and every city block with enough Roman Candles, Blistering Bees and M-80s to light up the neighborhood until the wee hours of the night. Every family celebrated our nation’s birth, and in the end, the streets looked like the skies had opened up and rained Chinese newspaper.
By daybreak, all the neighborhood kids had arisen early in order to scavenge around the streets in search of any unexploded firecrackers. Such “duds” were promptly split in half, and then carefully ignited with a trusted magnifying glass. A couple of “Guns of Navarone” plastic forts may also have gone ablaze that day, as one can recall.
But those gleaming days of freedom and liberty are long gone, at least in this state. In New Jersey, such romantic moments of adolescent amusement have been replaced with the sterility of town sanctioned fireworks displays, where the thrill and excitement can be had only by the so-called pyrotechnics experts putting on the show. The rest of us can only watch, like a squadron of little kids lining the sidelines while the big kids hog the football.
But of course, we can’t be trusted to set off our own fireworks, can we? After all, this is New Jersey, a state that practically holds your hand while you tinkle. Good ‘ol New Jersey – one of only five states in the nation that completely bans fireworks – forever leading the way with its liberty-crushing legislation.
As usual, New Jersey and its big brother cohorts firmly believes that it is their duty to protect us from the evil fireworks that injure about 9,000, and result in the death of about six people nationwide each year.
Yet, we are still allowed to drive (for the moment at least) despite the fact that there are about 45,000 deaths a year stemming from motor vehicle accidents. We can still climb a ladder if we like, regardless of the 17,000 people each year who die from falls. And the cleaning industry knows that we are still permitted to buy their products, even though about 20,000 people a year die from accidental poisonings.
Hence, by comparison to other routine activities, fireworks are relatively safe, and hardly the problem that the media would lead us to believe. And statistically speaking, children under the age of 15 suffer about 45 percent of all fireworks injuries each year. Clearly then, safe fireworks use – like most activities – again comes down to proper parental supervision, and not knee-jerk government intervention.
| Comments (1) |
On July 5, 2008 Maggie said:
Hi-
I'm a bit confused by this article. How can you lament "But those gleaming days of freedom and liberty are long gone..", when they have been gone longer than 1976:
"In 1937, as part of a comprehensive enactment, the Legislature (of New Jersey) declared that "[t]he sale, exposure for sale, use, distribution or possession of fireworks or pyrotechnics [is] against the public health, safety and welfare of the people of the [S]tate of New Jersey," and is illegal. N.J.S.A. 21:3-1, -2. The Legislature created an exception for public displays of fireworks."
I don't doubt that you played with fireworks as a child, but don't use a skewed view of the law to provide you with a platform to lament "loss of liberty".
Try some fact checking before ranting.
Thanks!
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