Straw Bans
Few things demonstrate ignorance based virtue signaling, with counter-productive consequences like Straw Bans. So naturally places like California are leading the charge (SF is even banning cocktail sticks): this is Anti-Science. Remember the basics: 10 rivers (8 in Asia, the other 2 in Africa) are responsible for 95% of the plastic pollution in the Oceans. 5% is split between the continents of Europe, North America, South America, and Australia. Brazil is the worst country among the rest (the U.S. is 20th). Straws in the U.S., with high estimates is something like 0.002% of the problem. So if straws were 100 times bigger problem in the U.S. than they actually are, it would still round to 0 and statistically irrelevant. So virtue signaling is not only distracting from bigger problems, it teaches contempt for the law.
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Virtue signaling is when you create ineffective and irrelevant laws to show you care, while ignoring the costs, consequences and utter insignificance of those laws. Like straw bans.
Your choices here:
- People ignore them, teaching contempt for the law.
- People enforce them, teaching even more contempt for the law.
Pick your battles wisely. Here's how Californians think:
- Illegal aliens that increase crime, stress our social services and other systems, and creates a two tear system with legal and sub-legal folks? We should incentivize them by giving them drivers licenses, and preventing enforcement of the law. That way we can magnify the problem, and use the problem to get votes.
- Homelessness which brings disease, crime, violence, fecal matter on the streets, and so on? California will reward them with all sorts of subsidies and aid in ways that will reward the behavior. (They will not filter out the substance abusers or mentally ill and try to make the problem better).
- The second amendment and legal gun owners? California should ignore the Constitution and harass them and fine and imprison them for silly cosmetic features. (In 1999 they first mandated a bullet button or you were guilty of a felony. In 2018 they outlawed it -- no grandfathering).
- Using straws? We should try to go back before 1888 when they were invented (or at least first patented). Because doing so would make no difference on pollution, plastic pollution, and would annoy people. Thatâs the point where we should fine and criminalize people.
Are you getting the point about how stupid California legislators are?
Sanctuary City
I like the babylonbee (satire) response that one Restaurant declared itself a sanctuary for threatened plastic straws. It sort of sums up the absurdity of Californians duplicitous double-standards. "We ignore laws we don't like, and make ones that others don't like".