o The Forum:RE: Reflections on Freedom by R. Culbertson Mr. Culbertson’s letter was nothing less than a shameless public temper tantrum. He laments his loss of freedom and concludes pleading for a system wherein “…the freedom to speak and choose
o The Forum:RE: Reflections on Freedom by R. Culbertson
Mr.
Culbertson’s letter was nothing less than a shameless public temper tantrum. He
laments his loss of freedom and concludes pleading for a system wherein “…the
freedom to speak and choose was as valued as the rich natural diversity of
these islands.”
He wails and moans blaming the WTO, crass commercialism
and refers to the market as a system of tyranny that thwarts “true freedom.”
All this from one who would do almost anything to trample upon and extinguish
the private rights in property of others; who heads up the local Sierra Club,
an organization that wastes no opportunity to trash property rights at every
turn. Give me a break.
Culbertson is really whining because he and his
“…faithful and idealistic friends…” the “…true problem solvers…” are
ticked off that not everyone else shares their dogmatic socialist and
anti-private property vision. This arrogant, elitist agenda is mainly about
telling we, the unenlightened, non-PhD, fools what is best for us. Such irony!
Crying out that his freedom is lost because he can’t forfeit ours and impose
his neo missionary will on us? In other words, if we don’t let him and his
“creative, true problem solvers” usurp our property rights then they are being
deprived of their freedom. Of course, as a properly unprincipled lot, he and
his comrades expect that the rules apply to all but themselves.
He cites
the cutting down and humiliating of one of his “… faithful and idealistic
friends…” which certainly refers to Judy Dalton’s experience at a recent
Planning Commission meeting. This incident has been brought up by several other
letters, the most recent by Glenn Mickens. Mickens characterized Dalton as a
“caring citizen” while castigating commissioners Baldwin and McDowel for asking
her “Personal” questions. Dalton, a Sierra Club comrade of Culbertson, was
giving testimony against the Kapalawai development proposal on the grounds that
its proximity to the shoreline rendered it “inappropriate.” Kapalawai is, of
course, someone else’s private property. Recall that she, Culbertson and the
Sierra Club have opposed every other development proposed as
well.
Ironically, while Dalton was lobbying against the Kapalawai
development she was simultaneously pressing forward with her own oceanfront
development on Papaloa Road fronting Wailua beach. Incredibly, she is also
requesting that the Planning Commission grant her height and setback variances
in order that her project can get a view over and around the existing buildings
an either side of her. Do I smell the scent of arrogance mixed with hypocrisy
here? Perhaps the commissioners questions about her private property can now be
seen for what they were-an attempt to encourage a little
introspection.
Maybe she can take the “high” road that she, Culbertson,
Stokes and others constantly rant about by dedicating her land as a public park
— you know, set an example demonstrating the left’s selfless ethos. Or, in
crass terms, put her money where her mouth is.
Frankly, I don’t care what
Dalton wants to do. It’s her property and she shouldn’t have to bow and scrape
before any commission or government agency — no property owner should have to.
But truly principled people take one path only and defend the rights in
property of all people. Picking and choosing one over the other doesn’t get it,
especially when you pick yours and trash the others’. When it comes to private
property it seems these unprincipled elitists live by the creed that says:
What’s mine is mine; What’s yours is ours.
R.S. Weir
