Awhile back a newspaper reported on a public meeting in a Sullivan County town to discuss whether or not to allow natural gas excavating known as fracking.
Fracking is a very controversial issue here, and in other regions of upstate New York and the US.
Upset with an upcoming decision to forbid fracking in the township, one pro-fracking woman defiantly arose stating, "The government has no right to tell me what to do with my land!"
The applause was deafening.
Sorry to inform you ma'am, but you're wrong-the government tells you what you can and can't do on with your property any day in most anyway.
You can't run a prostitution ring on your land. You can't grow marijuana. You can't burn garbage. You can't build a structure without the government's permission in the form of a permit. If your land is zoned for residential use you can't build a factory.
In fact, you can't even keep your land if you don't pay property taxes to the government.
And as recent court rulings confirm, they can also tell you not to frack on your land.
So, if you think that land ownership automatically allows you to lease to gas companies to conduct fracking on the lawn, YOU'RE WRONG!
That indignant lady, as others, may disparagingly consider this government intrusion in a socialistic sense - and in some instances, they may be correct.
Contrary to popular belief, since the founding of the United States, our country has been a largely and lawfully a socialistic society. For further proof, just refer to the U.S. Constitution.
That sacred document starts off with the words, "We the People," probably the shortest, most poignant outline of socialistic ideology.
The Preamble goes on to define the duties of the government, most broadly empowering it to "promote the general welfare," a term that has led to the creation of public schools, hospitals, interstate highways, libraries, disease control centers, even baseball stadiums. All of these enterprises are achieved via the consent of the governed, who ultimately pay for them with their payment of taxes.
Further evidence of our socialistic state: A sacred national oath recited daily by millions, the Pledge of Allegiance was composed by a socialist, Frances Bellamy- which was purely socialistic in form until the words "Under God" were wrongfully inserted by an act of Congress.
Socialism is not anti-American. When someone "accuses" me of being a socialist, I smile, nod my head, and say, "Yup!"
So, the next time you drive to a public school, use a municipal hospital, buy uncontaminated meats, drink clean reservoir waters, and vote for a town board that prohibits fracking, you're a practicing American socialist too.
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Very well said!
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