I called the city to ask why Becky was denied her right to vend. "Well, she didn't have a permit," they answered. I explained that she did. "Oh, she was trying to set up by the park, and that is illegal." I explained that I didn't know where she was trying to set up but that she had been specifically denied vending privileges because her greeting cards were homemade. Silence. When I asked them specifically for the law that prohibited the selling of homemade goods they refused to comment. Why should this be a difficult question to answer?
More laws and regulations are piling on us every day. Dig into it a bit and you'll discover that most of these new regulations are funded by big business. Take S.510 for example, the Food Safety Modernization Act. Open Secrets reports that big food businesses alone spent more than $84 million to get this little beauty passed. The sales pitch for these licentious laws and regulations is always the same -to tirelessly remind the public that we are at immediate risk of death by homemade goods without our dutiful government checking every article for traces of anthrax and hidden razor blades.
The reality of these laws, supposedly passed to protect, was to threaten a good woman at taser-point with some hard jail time. Becky spent $15 for a sales permit, specifically granted to her by the city of Escondido for "Homemade Christmas Cards", only to be informed once set up at the parade that her permit was illegitimate because new law prohibited the sale of all homemade goods. She was threatened with arrest if she did not vacate the premise within 15 minutes. Since Becky's son is borrowing her car, she was forced to pay an additional $10 premium for an emergency cab ride to flee the scene of her crime as her friend's ride would not be available soon enough. The city of Escondido said they would graciously refund her $15, but no sooner than 6 weeks.
Is such an affront to individual freedom really what the majority of people want in this country? If Becky were to be stood in the center of Petco Park with a big "H" hung around her neck to shame her in her crime of homemade goods, would the majority of people in this stadium really raise their hand in favor of locking her in a cage -and to shoot her if she dares try to escape?
Paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin, I suppose we deserve to be violated by those promising us security in exchange for our freedom. But I hope we have learned our lesson and are now courageous enough to take it back. Bring on the threat of homemade goods laced with hidden razor blades and anthrax; these dangers pale in comparison to the very real threat of an overzealous street cop with a taser gun and a pair of handcuffs.
