TCM
I attended a City Council meeting and spoke up on this point. I asked that if the "Food Not Bombs" folks were being arrested for distributing food without a license, that the cops also make arrests of the various groups at church picnics, Boy Scout outings, family picnics, etc., who also prepare and distribute food to groups. (Cooked under the same conditions, and distributed the same way.)
The Council showed no reaction to my point, not that I expected to have any effect (dozens of others made similar points, that this was selective enforcement). The cops were told to keep busting people for distributing food, but no orders were given against church and social groups.
TCM attending a government sponsored meeting? participating in participatory government? voting with his voice in a democracy? SCANDALOUS!! whatever happened to the "f*** them all philosophy"? hehehehehe or maybe you will be using this little anecdote ad nauseam to show the failure of democracy to individual wishes, and the tyranny of the majority? seriously, if cypherpunks think government is so crappy, let see them invent a better alternative than that which exists. note that "anarchy" evades the problem completely. it's like saying, "I hate my web browser" and someone saying, "oh, just get rid of it, the alternative is far better". an 8 year old would understand this logic, but alas it eludes the cpunks after many moons on this list.
"Some food distributors are more equal than others." Selective enforcement is the real power of the State.
agreed, the food policy you cite is strangely orwellian. however one can somewhat sympathize with states which are in a bind here, in such a way that you fail to mention the obvious ramifications. the more empathetic governments are toward the homeless, the more the state becomes a hangout for them. would you like to see the homeless multiply in your own jurisdiction? word gets around fast in these circles where the best place to get a free lunch is, and they travel around the country to that place. you have a very rabid opinion on welfare as a redistribution of income to those that don't deserve it. how is this food redistribution program different? the fact that you don't pay for it? so you aren't really objecting to leeching, just leeching off of your money? and BTW, I believe "leeching" is a word that you have used in your own posts on the subject, and is not something I'm inventing here.