By Richard Sacks
Part I ? American values, freedom of choice and the GMO question:
Freedom was the attraction that enticed the early immigrants to risk their lives to come to America. Escaping all manner of tyrannies, people came to live where the individual citizen was sovereign, not the king, not the government. In America, government was set up to be the servant of the people and of the states, to perform only certain well-defined tasks. The document protecting the American people from their government was called the Constitution.
This document did not convey any rights to the citizens, it recognized their rights as inherent at birth, granted by their Creator. Why? Because if government could convey rights, it could also take them away. America was set up as a constitutional republic, not a democracy. In a democracy, especially where government controls either the media or the counting of votes, or both, as is the case in present day America, it is easy to take away rights of the citizens by “voting.” In a constitutional republic, even if you are a minority of one, your rights are inviolable, no vote or law can take them away. Benjamin Franklin, explaining this distinction, said, “Democracy is two wolves and a sheep, voting on what”s for dinner.” In a democracy, freedoms are eventually lost.
Still, freedoms are limited in that no one has the free right to transgress upon the rights of others. In the following scenarios, decide which way you would vote:
1) Let”s re-introduce smoking in elevators, airplanes, movie theaters, and all public buildings, since everyone has the right to smoke if they like.
2) Let students play their stereos and boom boxes in class, so their freedom to listen is not infringed.
3) Let residents of Lake County dump raw sewage into Clear Lake, so they don”t have the expense of septic tanks.
4) I will grow certain agricultural crops on my farm which have already been shown to cause serious health problems in test animals (see extensive references in Seeds of Deception and elsewhere). Because of movement of seeds via birds and other natural vectors, these crops in some form will spread to your farm and garden, and those of your neighbors, ending up in some form on your children”s dinner plates (“buffer zones” are a complete illusion).
These scenarios have a common theme, which you no doubt have ascertained. In each case, individual freedom is pitted against the inevitable damage that will occur. In America, this kind of freedom does not rule by default. The basis of all American law was originally “live in any way you please and believe what you want, but do not infringe on the rights of others.”
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, told those who wished to practice these arts to “Do no harm.” He did not say, “decide how much harm to do, and reach a consensus on how much that should be.” He said no harm. It will always be an argument of some that to do no harm is too difficult, not convenient, takes too much effort, is impractical, will lose money, etc. But as human beings, we are called to do not just what is easy, but what is right.
This is the issue (see No. 4, above), in considering whether farmers or gardeners should be free to grow genetically engineered crops in Lake County.
Mr. Sacks is a rancher and a private researcher with a background in agriculture, economics, energy, health, natural systems and education. His columns deal mostly with de-mystifying the news and what lies beneath the surface of current events.
