No Way to Feed the Poor
Yes, Mr. Eric Montanez was arrested . . . but not for feeding the poor as such, but for feeding the poor in a public park.
Public parks are for the “public,†but not for certain members of the public to turn into homes. Houses are for homes. We who own or rent homes — we workers and business owners and professionals — like to retreat to parks to free ourselves, however briefly, of work and business and house and such duties. Parks are places to “get away.†Relax.
It sure is hard to relax or play while hordes of the impoverished go about their mass feedings.
It’s a great thing to help the poor. But, well, where should the homeless be fed? In homeless shelters. Churches. Rented facilities. There are plenty in Orlando.
In two words: private property.
That’s the only way to bring the homeless back into civilization. They need to see how private property can work for them.
But that’s not what Mr. Montanez is up to. His group, Food Not Bombs, has sued the city of Orlando on grounds of the unconstitutionality of the ordinance that allowed his arrest.
Can we hazard an early verdict? This is just another leftist attempt to make the public realm one huge feeding trough.
That’s no way to help the homeless. It’s a way to use the homeless as political props.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
