Know your true enemy.
When They Came for the Raw Milk Drinkers…
by Ron Paul
While I oppose most gun control proposals, there is one group of Americans I do believe should be disarmed: federal agents. The use of force by federal agents to enforce unjust and unconstitutional laws is one of the major, albeit overlooked, threats to liberty. Too often Americans are victimized by government force simply for engaging in commercial transactions disproved of by Congress and the federal bureaucracy.
For example, the offices of Rawesome Foods in Venice, California, have been repeatedly raided by armed federal and state agents, and Rawesome’s founder, 65-year-old James Stewart, has been imprisoned. What heinous crime justified this action? Rawesome sold unpasteurized (raw) milk and cheese to willing customers – in a state where raw milk is legal! You cannot even drink milk from a cow without a federal permit!
This is hardly the only case of federal agents using force against those who would dare meet consumer demand for raw milk. In 2011 armed agents of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) raided the business of Pennsylvanian Amish farmer Dan Allgyer. Federal agents wasted a whole year and who knows how many millions of our tax dollars posing as customers in order to stop Allgyer from selling his raw milk to willing customers.
The use of force against individuals making choices not approved of by the political elite does not just stop with raw milk. The Natural News website has documented numerous accounts of federal persecution, including armed raids, of health food stores and alternative medical practitioners.
Federal bureaucrats are also using force to crack down on the makers of gold coins for fear that people may use these coins as an alternative to the Federal Reserve’s fiat currency. Bernard von NotHaus, the founder of Liberty Dollars, is currently awaiting sentencing on federal counterfeiting charges — even though Mr. von NotHaus took steps to ensure his coins where not used as “legal tender.”
Yet, the federal government was so concerned over the possibility that Mr. von NotHaus’s customers might use his coins in regular day-to-day commerce they actually labeled Mr. von NotHaus a “terrorist.”
These type of police state tactics used against, among others, raw milk producers, alternative health providers, and gold coin dealers is justified by the paternalistic attitude common in Washington, D.C. A member of Congress actually once told me that, “The people need these types of laws because they do not know what is good for them.” This mindset fuels the growth of the nanny state and inevitably leads to what C.S. Lewis said may be the worst from of tyranny “…a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims.”
All Americans, even if they do not believe it is a wise choice to drink raw milk or use gold coins, should be concerned about the use of force to limit our choices. This is because there is no limiting principle to the idea that the government force is justified if used “for our own good.” Today it is those who sell raw milk who are being victimized by government force, tomorrow it could be those who sell soda pop or Styrofoam cups. Therefore, all Americans should speak out against these injustices.
TJF says:
I admit, when I saw the title of the post I was a bit worried….then I read the first sentence and realized it was the same old Ron Paul. Whew.
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26th February 2013 at 6:20 am
Nonanonymous says:
TJF, same thoughts here, uh – oh.
To be sure, the left is coming for our guns, I think everyone is waiting for the first shoe to drop before firing back, figuratively. Literally comes later, when TPTB attempt to enforce any bullshit laws.
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26th February 2013 at 6:56 am
card802 says:
Jesh, I thought the same when I read the headline.
I think gun owners are safe until midterms. If democrats win big in 2014 then look for a big push to outlaw guns.
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26th February 2013 at 7:30 am
ragdouche says:
Admin: very misleading title.
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26th February 2013 at 7:56 am
Administrator says:
ragman
I like to grab people’s attention.
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26th February 2013 at 8:01 am
Gayle says:
I can sleep better at night knowing that armed Feds are keeping an eye on those pesky Amish. It’s ok, though, that our meat is loaded with enough crap that some countries will not allow it to be imported for their citizens. My latest meager attempt to stand up to our twisted system is to drink raw milk even though it’s $8.00 a half gallon. Fortunately California is one of only six states that allows its sale.
I get so weary living inside a giant lie.
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26th February 2013 at 12:39 pm
Ron says:
Ive always wondered about the way the government does things. Its one head scratcher after anouther.I read once that most folks in Wahington are lawyers.
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26th February 2013 at 1:50 pm
SSS says:
“In 2011 armed agents of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) raided the business of Pennsylvanian Amish farmer Dan Allgyer. Federal agents wasted a whole year and who knows how many millions of our tax dollars posing as customers in order to stop Allgyer from selling his raw milk to willing customers.”
—-from Ron Paul’s article
This is nothing but a huge coverup by Ron Paul. What Paul fails to mention is that lowdown Amish farmer, Dan Allgyer, got busted for sneaking raw milk across the Mason Dixon Line and selling the milk in Maryland, where sales of raw milk are illegal (raw milk sales are legal in Pennsylvania). Allgyer should be doing 20 to Life for this heinous crime. We simply have to get a grip on these Amish criminals. They’re out of control. Heh.
Pulling my tongue back out of my cheek, I did a bit of surfing on state-by-state raw milk laws. The national champion is Mississippi. Check out the following. This is NOT a joke.
“On-farm sales of raw goat milk are legal if the selling farm has no more than nine milk producing goats lactating on it. The farmer cannot advertise and must sell directly to the consumer.”
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26th February 2013 at 9:32 am
Eddie says:
Damn hillbilly Amish milkleggers, with their hotrod wagons, always trying to outrun the Gov’t. Hummers.
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26th February 2013 at 9:42 am
AWD says:
Thank God for the Amish. They’ll be teaching what’s left of this country how to survive.
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26th February 2013 at 10:02 am
AWD says:
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26th February 2013 at 10:08 am