Recently, I was watching the La Crosse town meeting on CBS. I wasn’t really planning on it, but I slowly became sucked into the finger pointing that was at the meeting.

In recent years, several college students have lost their lives in the Mississippi River. Many claim that alcohol is the cause of these deaths. La Crosse’s chief of police was one of the most disappointing characters in the drama that unfolded at the assembly. He offered all sorts of possible suggestions for the losses, contradicting himself on a number of occasions.

After an audience member took a stand on a particular issue, swaying the mob in a certain direction, he was quick to jump on the bandwagon.

Proposals were made, such as limiting the consumption of alcohol in bars, setting up volunteer task forces to monitor drinking and increasing the surveillance on the riverfront – all decisions he seemed to agree with after a little public pressure.

He was quick to place blame on bartenders and bar owners for the tragic and untimely deaths that have occurred in the past several years. However, his accusations are pointed in the wrong direction and make bars scapegoats for a problem that exists in individuals – not in establishments.

Holding businesses personally responsible for the actions of its patrons is not the solution. Bars are not designed to act as adult day care centers. They are places where people go to have good times and socialize without undue restraint. Hindering this in any way infringes on their rights.

The solutions voiced at the meeting are lacking, at best. Let’s look at the real problem. Some individuals act irresponsibly, make poor choices and have been hurt because of them. Creating more rules doesn’t solve the dilemma. It will only force people to find ways to beat the system.

The enforcement of these recommendations would create a Gestapo-like society, where peoples’ liberties are restricted and their decisions are regulated.

One must consider what is at the heart of the debate. Are we trying to hold bars responsible for human actions? People need to hold themselves accountable.

There are plenty of people, even college students, who go to bars and drink responsibly, or know how to handle themselves if they’re drunk. Do these people deserve to be hounded by strict legislation? And what bars will be targeted for regulation? Just college bars? I somehow doubt “townie” bars would be victims of any new policies or city ordinances that place restraints on alcohol consumption. It is a flawed proposal to say the least.

A complaint was raised about drink specials at bars and their correlation to the deaths in La Crosse. Last time I checked, a bar was a business. People start businesses in order to make money. If drink specials are to be taken away from bars, what’s next? No more discounted meat at the grocery store? Maybe we can blame everyone but ourselves for the stupid things we do. The ills of society aren’t solved by more governmental regulation. The point of La Crosse’s town meeting was to seek answers for the deaths of a few college students. They failed to do so because they overlooked the real source of the problem.

Let me tell you, it’s not because of the bars, the bartenders, brewing companies or hops. Poor decisions are the real tragedies in La Crosse.