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Show Page 6 Signpost Feb. 28, 1975 FRANKLY SPEAKING. . . .by phil frank 'Our Vanishing Liberties' What you can do to stop erosion of your freedom By Omar V. Garrison Number Fifteen of a Series As these articles have demonstrated, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), heedless of its mandate to protect the public against food-borne illnesses, has in fact damaged our national health. And, though empowered to protect us against cheating and excessive food prices, FDA has actually brought an increase in our cost of living. Such is the result of FDA's cozy liaison with other government agencies and with big business.Such is the outcome of a "pro- tection" policy that concentrates on small, harmless health-food purveyors while ignoring the abuses of industrial giants. Buut it does not stop there. Professional Helpmates Another area of "rapport" is the liason between FDA and the American Medical Association (AMA). These two groups cooperate closely in a massive campaign to eliminate health foods from the market. Together, they sponsor propaganda drives and conventions to unmask "nutritional quackery" and to ruin any practitioner who disagrees with them. After attending one such convention, The New Republic's James Ridgeway wrote, "You left with the feeling you had been at a training camp for finks who, on their return home, could make a collect telephone call anytime to FDA, to rat on any doctor not a member of AMA." It all adds up to one question: at what point does bureaucratic shepherding become administrative tyranny? Regulatory agencies are necessary to a large and complex government the trouble comes when bureaucrats turn into dictocrats, who virtually deny us our freedom of choice. If a federal agency can tell us what we may or may not eat, it's only a step away from dictating what we may read, wear, worship or think! &g3i easy L--- A Public Responsibility What can we, as ordinary citizens, do to curb the dictocrats' growing power over our private lives? The answer is public action the collective efforts of individuals. We must shoulder the responsibility for our own welfare, instead of looking to the government for decisions on such private matters as diet and dealings in the marketplace. "The consumer must be protected," said President Nixon, "but he must also be trained and encouraged to protect himself."The Weapon Dictocrats Fear Even more important is the power of massive protest in the form of letters to Congressmen and other public officials. Dictocrats easily shrug off adverse court decisions, and repeat the same offenses. Jhe glibly lie to legislators . who question their abuse of civil liberties. Their errors and machinations are locked behind a wall of secrecy.But they have no weapon for fighting an outraged public! "More and more," said Senator George S. McGovern, "I hear people questioning the nutritional quality of the items they purchase in the supermarket."Congressman Craig Hosmer, convinced that "FDA ignored the fact that food supplements are merely concentrated food," has taken legislative action to curb bureaucratic tyranny by all federal agencies. Are We Already Trapped? Years ago, the late Senator Harry Byrd observed that bureaucrats "have the authority to do what they always dreamed of to take complete control of the fortunes and conduct of every citizen, to use them like bricks and mortar to build their idea of a perfect world." This power was built on a foundation of public apathy. While fighting dictatorship all over the world, in our own back yard we have remained virtually blind to such dictatorial tactics as entrapment, censorship and spying practiced with impunity by FDA and other agencies. Rarely are our hackles raised when FDA conveniently overlooks vast infractions by giant corporations, while persecuting small, harmless businesses. It is up to us, the people, to decide if we will once more take the reins of government into our own hands or if we will forever remain cradled in the "security" of Big Daddyism! Prophecy Come True? More than a century ago Alexis de Tocqueville, the brilliant French political writer, foresaw a day in which Americans would servilely acquiesce to a government mastery of their lives. They would, he said, come to regard the multiplicity of social regulations not as acts of despotism but as "benefits" bestowed by a paternalistic state. He describes in grim detail the effect such a system eventually has upon the people or nations who embrace it: "The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent and guided. Men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy . . . but it extinguishes and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid animals, of which the government is the shepherd." Is that to be the fate of a nation which was conceived in liberty, and set its course by the polestar of human freedom? We, the people, must decide. -Adapted from "The Dictocrats" by Omar V. Garrison (with additional material). All rights reserved. Distributed by Specialty Features Syndicate, Detroit, Michigan 48219. The End VU$ TO XDU BUT MY NOT PRE -VERT i ID problem neet After paying over $300 for tuition and fees to go to school on this cam- - .--pus, the student was told that he couldn't get into the free Dave Loggins concert Tuesday night. Why? Well, the reason given was because the student didn't have a validated ID card. What does he pay his money to student government for if he still must dish out another $1.50 to go to student government funded ac-tivitip7 . . What real purpose has he given his $5 to them for if he can't enjoy the benefits? ; According to Robin Jeppson, activities vice president, "That's just the way it is. " She explained that ID cards have always been required " for activities and they still are. This way no one besides students of Weber State College can get into our activities without paying for them. Voting procedure If this logic holds true, then how can we accept a simple registration FRANKLY SPEAKING. . . .by phil frank OKAY, MEN- WE'RE GOINP TO W TO THE CTUERll. WO WJGHT TUB ?APElfcr NOT IMFORTANT MAJOR ) PRE-VET V -V- 1 |