Health & Fitness
A Town’s Tolerance
A clear discord between tolerance of individual basic rights and the political "greener good" persists in Falmouth. The toll is becoming more and more costly.
A Town’s Tolerance
“All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This proclamation has raised Falmouth's concern about basic civil liberties from wind turbines to the school budget.
It’s becoming more clear that perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of our society today is a lack of tolerance. There are those who yell loudly about how we must all be tolerant but as is often the case, those who demand tolerance are those most intolerant of those who would cost them money, power or truth. Their intolerance escapes their own scrutiny.
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Despite personal pleas for help, the debate has become everything it should not be: what are your qualifications, you aren't a "doctor,” who is sponsoring you, and so on. Disappointingly, policy makers, renewable energy enthusiasts, even former friends have taken turns attacking me and my neighbors and not the real problem.
The real problem is about preserving fundamental rights. Rights that are the essence of what this country is based upon as described in the Declaration of Independence.
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I “get it” that in the search for the turbine truth, it costs the community money. I realize there might be “egg on the face” of some decision makers. I’m in total support and encourage the use of energy sources that remove fossil fuel dependancy. Yet, if Falmouth neighbors say they are being harmed, should our community goal hinder non-effected neighbors from advocating “tolerance” and making efforts to find answers?
And so it is today, as spring Town Meeting prepares another costly “bailout” of the town’s wind project, and town officials coerce the majority to protect town finances instead of civil liberties. I fear the Falmouth so many of us love has taken its leave from our Declaration. Our "tolerance" policy has become one driven by money, the majority (despite basic rights) and an unfortunate mistake. A neighbor’s liberties have been reduced to being intolerable.
