Raw milk is not the issue, it's a symptom.

[Guest guest]

Why limit freedom to drink raw milk?

By JIM FEDAKO, GUEST COLUMNIST Published: Friday, April 30, 2010 10:24 AM EDT

Raw milk? Not for me. However, for more than a few residents in the area, raw milk is a desired commodity.More frightening to me than raw milk is the fact that its sale is illegal in Ohio. That means the collective we has decided that others are not allowed to purchase an item they believe is healthy and nutritious.Oh, sure, it was state lawmakers and the governor who actually passed and signed the bill into law. But we all are responsible for not objecting anytime government legislates and regulates the actions of our neighbors, friends and family.So the collective we forces folks to sneak around in order to obtain the raw milk they desire. These are responsible people. Who are we to object?Somewhere, somehow, this nation got lost. We used to be a people who grabbed spots on the public square and in newspapers to cajole, coax, persuade and wheedle others to agree with our points of view.Sadly, we have turned from the power of the voice and pen to the power of government. We have become a nation that demands government action to force our neighbors to comply with our every whim and fancy, and we cheer government all along the way.Consider our history as nanny do-gooders: What started as a singular law against smoking on short airplane flights has grown into a multitude of laws dealing with all matters of personal choice.Now New York City regulates the types of fat used in city restaurants. Not because owners of restaurants refused to listen to their customers. No, it is because some folks cannot stand the sight of others eating certain food products. So they call in government.But where is the outcry?When confronted with a situation that is not to our liking, we tend to say, "There ought to be a law against that." We tend to see liberty only from our perspective; "I'll never drink raw milk or eat that type of fat, so the law has no effect on me." But it does. And it will, in an ever-increasing manner.Raw milk is not the issue, it's a symptom. The issue is our desire to rule over our neighbors through the use of government. And that desire gets fed each time another intrusive law passes without protest.Liberty must be defended with vigilance. Turning our backs as someone suffers is not the hallmark of a strong society. But we do just that whenever we accept, with a shrug and a ho-hum, a new intervention into the lives and property of others.I will likely never drink raw milk. Not because there is a law against its sale; I will not drink it simply because it does not appeal to me. That it appeals to others is no issue whatsoever -- it's not my concern.Leave them alone and they will leave you alone. That is the true blessing of liberty.Jim Fedako is a Center resident and a frequent contributor to Mises.org, the world center of the Austrian School of economics and libertarian political and social theory.