Australia - Let us make our choices

Let us make our choices
EVERY day there are more proposals touted to ban this, ban that and ban something else and all with the premise of someone else doing something which in their opinion is good for me. You see, opinions are just like backsides, everyone’s got one and when you come down to basics, all these banning proposals are just someone’s personal opinion being foisted on to someone else.
So what about respecting my position as a resident in a democratic country and let me make my own choices as to what I do or what happens to me. Whether it’s fluoride in water, caffeine in soft drinks, pies in schools or sugar for kids — don’t tell me what I can and can’t have or do. Educate and inform me, but don’t compel me. If I choose poorly then it is my faux pas, not yours. I’ll fix it, not you.
What I and my family chooses as appropriate for us is our choice and not yours. And the appropriate word here is choice. It’s what living in a democracy is all about.
— DENNIS KEITH,
Mt Beauty