It takes a village.
A theme more or less explored in our politics in general. And sometimes in specific. For example, President Obama touched on it during his now famous firehouse stop in Virgina. There, on the stump, Obama extolled the crowd that successful folks are successful in large part, some part, to those that have come before. Their success is due, in some measure, to those who’ve built the infrastructure. Therefore, the logic goes, it is now up to those successful individuals to “give back” and embrace a higher tax burden.
The central idea being that we’re all part of this thing and we all need to contribute.
It takes a village.
Further, this is a concept I resonate with and embrace. We DO rely on each other. It’s the volunteer firefighter that makes sure our homes are safe. It’s the teacher that slaves away tirelessly at 10:00 at night. There’s the pastor watching over the kids during summer break. I love the fact that my son’s karate teacher watches him as he walks down the block to the dance studio to wait for his sister.
It DOES take that symbolic village.
Which makes this and this all the more frustrating:
A woman may be fined $600 for each day she provided free food to children in a poor Philadelphia neighborhood for the past few months.
Angela Prattis, 41, of Chester Township has been distributing free healthy lunches in a neighborhood that has a per capita income of $19,000 a year.
Prattis made no money from the meal distribution, and gave out food provided by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The “lunch lady” ran the charity out of her garage, to which about 60 children came, five days a week.
After the city council was alerted of the free lunches, it ruled that she would have to acquire a variance to give away food next summer – or pay a fine of $600 a day. The council considers Prattis’ deed a zoning violation. Three months of distributing food would instigate a fine of more than $50,000.
60 kids, 5 days a week. Free.
PHOENIX – The city of Phoenix is facing a possible lawsuit after a woman claimed a city worker told her she could not pass out free water in the Arizona heat without a permit.
Dana Crow-Smith tells ABC 15 she was passing out water bottles in the 112-degree heat along with others in an attempt to share their Christian beliefs with people attending a festival downtown last month, when a city worker ordered them to stop. She said the worker told the group they would be cited if they continued passing out the water because they did not have a permit.
Admittedly, the second case may not involve city officials in real authority, but the point remains that there is this idea that the city has these regulations.
It’s important to remember that the villagers created the village. Not the other way around.