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Show THE ZEPHYR APRIL 1994 PAGE 30 Somewhere Left of Right A government that protects our rights: that is another birthright of each American. A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD In America, in many ways we are not equal. We don't have the same natural gifts. We are not equal physically or mentally. And our social conditions are not equal, either. It's not our right to have a oertain size income or a certain size house or car. This is an important distinction from forms of socialism or communism. Here, we're supposed to have the freedom to live on very little or on a lot, to spend every dime we get our hands on or to sock it all away for our ancestors, to be dismally poor or dismally rich or somewhere in between. The kind of equality we are guaranteed in America is that we all have an equal chance, an equal opportunity. We are guaranteed a free society that allows the entire range of social conditions to develop. Legal and social discrimination are not allowed. We are all supposed to be permitted to seek our own level, our own status. The playing field is supposed to be level for everyone. Equal opportunity in a free society is another birthright of each American. FREEDOM FROM EXCESSIVE TAXATION Excessive taxation was a pretty big deal with early colonists. Remember the Boston Tea Party? People went to war because of too many taxes and our country was bom. The possibilities for taxation by government were limited in the original Constitution. Unfortunately, income tax was added later by amendment. Still, no excessive taxation, that's yet another of our birthrights. - AND NOW THE QUESTIONS, LIKE HAVE WE LOST OUR LEVEL PLAYING FIELD7 people, the elderly, the Zoning ordinances can be used to discriminate against can be afforded by that the the less the educated, thrifty. Housing working poor, low income singles and couples just starting out can be effectively limited, so that only the affluent can move in. Landscaping and building sizes, lot sizes, types of construction, limitations on storage, on use of land, etc all these provide effective means for keeping some people out and letting others in. One simple example: if land prices go up, lot sizes should be allowed to go down. Then, someone with a large piece of property could sell a small piece to someone at an affordable nice. But this can't happen if the size of all lots is kept large by zoning ordinances. Oh, you don't want to let people do that, to own a small piece of property with a tiny house they can actually afford? Why? Because you don't like poor people and don't want them living near you? Because poor people are not "as good" as middle income people? I wonder how you'll feel about poor people when you happen to become one of them because you lost your job or you just got old. Right now. Grand County has some very discriminatory, restrictive zoning ordinances. They were placed in effect back in the late 1970's. If they had ever been enforced, there would have been a revolt by the people. Not even the County Council knows exactly what they say. At the time this article was written, the Zoning Department still had no complete copy of the zoning ordinances available for residents to read. The only way they've ever been used is by one property owner who is mad at another and wants to cause some grief, and by someone who is a part of the local government and wants to cause someone grief. The point to be made is this: if the goal is to push people and other undesirables out of a city and of a county, then zoning restrictions like those Grand County has on the books now will be extremely effective. And what comes with it? Housing shortages, homeless people, exclusive neighborhoods, lots of money to be made. If we leave things as they are, the powerful zoning people will gradually remodel Moab into a resort. The ever more powerful zoning police will soon have pushed people like our family, like many long-tim- e residents, like many of our friends out just by using the zoning ordinances no one else has read. Another thing bad zoning ordinances encourage is: a modem disorder called COMPULSIVE low-inco- By Jane S. Jones STEAMED UP OVER FREEDOM IN GRAND COUNTY The American dream if we hold on tight enough, everything will somehow work out and we can still go about our days of playing and spending. If you've been really well conditioned you don't even miss freedom. If you haven't been brainwashed quite so well, thoughts like "that law doesn't seem right" are instinctively avoided because they just make you fed bad. And above all else, you know it's wrong to feel bad on a bright warm spring day. Nevertheless, I'm going to toss out a little revolutionary talk about rights, a sort of dvics and current events lesson, just to see if any of you can still develop an independent thought. - fun-fill- ed - THE FIGHT FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS THE REASON FOR AMERICA Until the United States separated itself from Great Britain in 1776, there had never been a government formed whose chief purpose was to protect its people's liberties and dvil rights. In the 1700's, Locke, Rousseau, Jefferson and others in the United States put forth radical new ideas about individual rights. In 1762, Rousseau said "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." Fourteen years later, the American Declaration of Independence stated dearly that all people have certain rights that should never be taken from them. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights secured those rights for all time. These documents were all carefully written to protect each individual from the things that had tormented people in the past: the overbearing authority of government, of the church, and of those with great wealth, and the tyranny of majority opinions which had destroyed individual choice in the past This new American government was a break with the past, an exdting new concept of freedom to believe in and fight for. that individuals have rights that belong to them, independent of any interference from government. Some of the most basic individual rights guaranteed to each dtizen in America are: the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; the right to privacy and to the security of the individual; the right to own property; the right to trial by a jury of peers and the right to due process; freedom of speech, of the press, and of worship; freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures; freedom from slavery and from torture and inhuman punishment. These guarantees are the birthright of every American. THE FIRST JOB OF GOVERNMENT IS TO PROTECT OUR RIGHTS It's a uniquely American concept: that government is a shield against encroachment upon the person. The individual American has the right to be left alone. Government is expected to safeguard and protect its citizens against anyone or anything that infringes upon their individual rights. Because these rights are so important, none of them are to be taken from us without just cause. The phrase "just cause" really meant something back when our country was formed, because people had years of experience with what "unjust cause" meant. They remembered the long struggle in England to secure their rights. They remembered the difficulty in America of protecting them against the Crown and the royal governors. They knew how dangerous government could be when it attacked people individually so they were powerless to fight back. Trial by jury was one result. Before you could be convicted of a crime, 12 people just like yourself had to decide that you were guilty before your rights were taken away from you as punishment. DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO SELL WESTERN WEAR? Apply in person for a Job with 78 S. MAIN 259-40- 00 us, and YOU can wear a hat too. self-sufficie- nt, - low-inco- DISCARDING. Since our family tends to save money wherever it can, and that means by saving usable materials, I think certain people have labeled me as a "compulsive gatherer." I want to turn to those people and label them as "compulsive discarders." Compulsive discarding is a fanatical desire to get rid of things. It is an expensive habit. The dump is full of evidence of this compulsion, and our dump is going to cost us more and more each year. Compulsive discarders would much rather buy something brand new at the store than make a small repair. They are addicted to spending money. They breed children that are just like them. They are to be pitied or despised, depending on the depth of your charitable feelings. The definition of an obsession is "a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling." Compulsive discarders are obsessed with getting rid of things that are flawed or that they're just tired of. This obsession sends them driving around town, stopping in front of other peoples homes and businesses, looking at all the things that other people need to discard. They are so obsessed that they are only happy with laws which force people to discard things whenever possible, rather than keep anything they might need later. To a compulsive discarder, saving things to save money is an unreasonable idea. Extreme insecurity causes the disorder. There is an overpowering compulsion to create an aura of wealth, happiness, and success in their surroundings and personal appearance. It's pretty pathetic. Experience teaches one thing: look behind those glossy exteriors and |