Ed Konecnik, a member of the Libertarian Party of Queens County, submitted the following article for publication:
No Salt For You!
by Ed Konecnik
Flushing, New York
April 1, 2012
Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged, warned “We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.”
Consider the following: New York City “food police” banned charitable food donations to homeless shelters because it does not meet governmental nutritional standards; some school authorities deemed lunches packed by moms brought from home as inadequate and confiscated them; and a proposed law in New York City states “No owner or operator of a restaurant in this state shall use salt in any form in the preparation of any food…”.
To my dismay, e-mailing my friends and family about these and similar examples of bureaucratic coerciveness has cost me some friendships and caused some family strife. I was advised articles and editorials challenging government mandated beneficence are automatically deleted with an admonition to cease further contact and to consider anger management. Why is support of individual rights always dismissed as mean-spirited and hateful? Why does the defense of constitutional principles and individual liberty inspire such vitriol and alienation?
I’m not sure who poses the biggest danger to our republic: those who subscribe to authoritarianism or those who acquiesce and are unaware of the consequences on our lives, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Thank you for the opportunity to contribute my proverbial two cents. I am comforted by the occasional supportive phone message and that I have not yet been asked to cease contact with you. As long as I am not being “deleted”, I am grateful we can share ideas and even agree to disagree.
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