Category: socialism

Florida’s Medieval Unwedded Cohabitation Law Punishes Hundreds

This is archaic, punitive, and barbaric.

This…, is Florida.

From policestateusa.com:

Hundreds of Floridians are being fined and imprisoned for the crime of living with a romantic partner without government permission, thanks to an old-time cohabitation law that is still in effect.

As stated in Chapter 798 of the Florida Statutes:

798.02?Lewd and lascivious behavior.—If any man and woman, not being married to each other, lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together, or if any man or woman, married or unmarried, engages in open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior, they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

Second-degree misdemeanors in Florida are punished by fines of $500 or up to 60 days in jail.

The law dates back over a century, crafted by authoritarians bent on using the state as a mechanism for social engineering and population control. The state’s primary means to this end was in forcing citizens to get permission to marry, in the form of marriage licenses. To prevent certain “undesirable” pairings of citizens, the state was empowered to deny couples the right to marry each other.

Florida resident Sierra Hooper tells Turning Left, “It’s just crazy to me that there is a law for that here … not only can an employer fire you at any time,  you can be arrested as well for who you live with.”

Welcome to Rick Scott’s “Right to Work” Florida.

Social engineering, indeed, socialism, at its worst.

Read more here.


Chicago Teachers Union Elects Socialist Leadership

I know the word "Socialist" was dragged through the mud during the last presidential campaign. Barack Obama is showing himself to be quite the centrist — I know my friends in the right will disagree with that, but it’s the truth.

I try to avoid extremes. Strict socialism is too far to the left for my tastes. There are those who would call all public education systems exercises in socialism.

I disagree. Just because an organized governmental entity is running something, that does not mean that particular endeavor is socialism. If that were so, one could argue that government doing anything is socialism: street repair, police, fire, or paramedics.

Socialism is much broader, "a centrally planned economy in which the government controls all means of production," where "private property and the distribution of income are subject to social control."

Socialism is too far to the left to me.

It appears, however, that Socialism is not too far to the left for the Chicago Teachers Union.

Incoming Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis and incoming Vice-President Jesse Sharkey are strongly affiliated with the Socialist Worker Party. In fact, Sharkey is scheduled to speak at the Socialism 2010 convention in Chicago beginning June 17.

Did the rank and file know they were electing socialists?

Too late now.