"Just because you do not take and interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take and interest in you." Pericles 430 B.C.

Too often people try to use government to impose their personal views of taste on their neighbors. This is why it is important to carefully research the places you want to live. If you don't want anyone in your community to have pink flamingos on their lawn then move to community with a restrictive covenant that bans that form of yard art. Don't make it a countywide ban with a law or regulation. These sorts of regulations tend to be worse than the supposed offence. Because then the government will have to increase taxes to hire people to police yards for pink flamingos. Neighbors who may have an axe to grind will tie up authorities with pink flamingo reports. They will rat out offending neighbors or even place illegal pink flamingo on a yards while their neighbor is away on vacation only to come home to a notice with a $100 fine for having an offending pink flamingo on their lawn.

I long for a time when people actually talked to their neighbors and voiced their concerns. I long for a time when people would work out their problems without demanding more oppressive laws. I long for a time when people would respect the private property rights of their neighbors.

I was thinking about this as I visited one of the last old time feed and seed stores in Carpenter. Now that it is in Cary's crosshairs they want to enforce their sign ordinance on this piece of Norman Rockwell Americana. I remember the feed and seed stores of my youth. Places where my grandfather would sit with local men and play hours of rook. He would also sell Hail Insurance there as well. These stores were gathering places but now people don't seem to see beautiful history they see something ugly. Isn't it in the eye of the beholder and shouldn't this storeowner have private property rights? If you don't like the feed and seed don't shop there but don't use government like a club to oppress this person’s freedom of expression.