Freedom Matters
Article: Mother faces jail time after joining Facebook food group and selling her food
Video: Mother faces jail time after joining Facebook food group and selling her food
Mariza Ruelas is a unemployed single mother who joined a Facebook food group. This Facebook food group she joined is mostly people who live in Northern California and they share recipes, cooking tips, and occasionally swap food dishes for favors or other meals.
One day Mariza Ruelas made some ceviche, which is a seafood and vegetable dish that is served cold. She had some left overs which she offered to sell to the people on her Facebook food group for $12 dollars and one man said he would take it. The man drove to her house and gave her $12 and bought the food she made. But it turns out the man was an undercover investigator who worked for the government.
In the citation the government wrote up it said she was selling a illegal substance. Which is kind of weird calling food a illegal substance because if food is a illegal substance then we are all guilty for eating food or buying food at some point in our lives.
Mariza Ruelas went on Facebook and complained about the government and what they did to her and why it was wrong and how they violated her rights. The government was not happy about this and told her to remove the posts about them on Facebook but Mariza Ruelas refused to remove them.
When a group of mostly women who were caught in this undercover sting for selling an illegal substance known to us as food, showed up in court they were all offered plea deals of a $250 dollar fine, 40 hours of community service, and one year of probation. But Mariza Ruelas was offered 80 hours community service and three years probation. She did not think that was fair for the government to single her out like that and treat her differently then everyone else and she refused to sign the plea deal the government offered her.
Mariza Ruelas suspected this was extra punishment for her for refusing to take down her Facebook posts about the ceviche incident from social media. Mariza Ruelas turned down the plea deal the government offered her and said she would fight this in court.
So now the government has decided to add two more misdemeanor charges to Mariza Ruelas to punish her for turning down there plea deal. These new charges could put her in prison for two years if found guilty. Mariza Ruelas did not think that the government would add charges if she turned down the government plea deal. She thought it would go to a judge and he would decide if it was fair for her to be treated differently then everyone else who got caught in this undercover sting for selling a illegal substance which to us is known as food.
These new charges could send Mariza Ruelas to prison for two years and which would also mean that the government would take her children from her and put them in foster homes because her mother is old and sickly and on a dialysis machine and can not care for her children for her if she goes to prison. So Mariza Ruelas wants to take the plea deal now and pay the fine but the government said it is too late now we want to go to trial and put her in prison.
So when the government lawyer who is prosecuting Mariza Ruelas was asked if this was a little extreme what they where doing to this poor single mother, the government lawyer responded that it is my job to enforce the laws the politicians make. I do not write the laws. I just enforce them.
MY ANALYSIS:
The government has violated Mariza Ruelas rights and this is really about money, our right to liberty, and our right to free speech.
According to the government if Mariza Ruelas wanted to sell her food she needs to give the government thousands of dollars to buy permits from them to operate a business and to operate a food facility she would also have to buy a government approved kitchen or be fined thousands of dollars for not having a kitchen not up to government code. Also if Mariza Ruelas is selling food the government wants her to charge a sales tax on that food and send that money to the government. Government makes a lot of money off permits, fines, and taxes. This case is really about money.
This case is also about freedom of speech. Mariza Ruelas embarrassed the government by posting this story on Facebook and the government asked her to take down her posts and she refused. So it looks like the government has singled her out for more punishment then the other mothers in her Facebook food group who sold food without government permits.
This case is also about our right to liberty. As free human beings we have the right to do whatever we want as long as we do not harm, steal, threaten, or violate the rights of others. So if I want to sell someone some food I made and someone wants to buy it, that's OK. That is know as a voluntary transaction and there is nothing wrong with that.
In a society where people are free we have the option to buy my food from whoever we please. I find it ridiculous that the government calls food a illegal substance if it is sold without government permits. We do not need government permission to buy food. They called her food a illegal substance so that means if I buy food from her they would probably fine me also for buying an illegal substance known as food.
This is also going to waste a lot of taxpayer money. This incident happened over a year ago and only now it is getting ready to go to court. The government is paying people to read your Facebook posts and send government agents to peoples homes trying to buy food from them in undercover stings. Then the government has to hire lawyers, judges, build prisons, pay juries, correction officers, etc... Mariza Ruelas is a unemployed single mother and has no money so taxpayers will have to pay for a lawyer for her and if she goes to prison, it would be the responsibility of taxpayers to pay to raise her children.
ANALYSIS OF THE MARIZA RUELAS ACTIONS:
Did the Mariza Ruelas harm, steal, or threaten anyone? No
Did Diane violate anyone's individual rights? No
Mariza Ruelas did nothing wrong and it is within her rights to trade freely with other people.
ANALYSIS OF THE GOVERNMENTS ACTIONS:
Did the government harm, steal, or threaten Mariza Ruelas? Yes
Did the government violate Mariza Ruelas individual rights? Yes
The governments actions are a violation of Mariza Ruelas individual rights.
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS - are rights all humans have and no one can legally take away from us.
- The right to free speech - I can communicate my opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation or censorship.
- The right to liberty - I can do what I want, as long as I do not violate the freedom of others.
- The right to self-defense - I can defend my life, my property, and my freedom.
- The right to privacy - No one has the right to violate my privacy.
LAWS SHOULD NOT VIOLATE OUR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS:
If we have the right to do something and the law says you can't do it, we still have the right to do it. We have no moral obligation to obey any law that violates our rights. We have a moral obligation to honor and recognize the individual rights of every human being that lives on this planet. No matter what the law says.
VICTIMLESS CRIMES:
Every time government enforces a law without a victim, the person getting arrested is the victim. If there is no victim, there is no crime. When governments punish someone for a victimless crime, they also punish society by forcing them to pay for it. If we support victimless crime laws, we are just as responsible as if we had hired someone to rob or kidnap on our behalf.
FREEDOM:
Freedom is the ability to exercise your will within your individual rights without the threat of force from anyone else. If somebody is forcing their will on us, clearly, we are not free. Freedom is not just an ideal state of society, but a moral code for respecting the individual rights of others.
Because you own yourself, it is wrong for someone to initiate force against you or your property. Acceptance of this simple fact is the foundation of a free and peaceful society. This nonaggression principle applies to everyone, and it is therefore wrong for someone to harm you, steal from you, threaten you, or violate your individual rights.
TYRANNY:
When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear
arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
- Thomas Jefferson
THE REVOLUTION CONTINUES:
In 1776 the Declaration of Independence condemned authoritarian power and empowered the individual. It argued that all people were created equal. That all people have individual rights. That our individual rights can not be taken away from us. That government power came from the consent of the governed. That government could not tax us without our consent. That the main purpose of government was to help secure our individual rights. When government violates our individual rights it becomes our duty to take away the governments right to govern.
But the revolution is not over. As long as some people claim the right to rule and others claim the right to be free, the revolution will continue. Final victory comes when people embrace the principles of true equality, non-aggression, self-ownership, and voluntarism. That is when people will truly be ready to be free.
VOLUNTARYISM:
Interactions between people should be voluntary and free of force, fraud, theft, and threats.
NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO VIOLATE MY FREEDOM:
- No one has the right to rob me.
- No one has the right to harm me.
- No one has the right to threaten me.
- No one has the right to violate my rights.
LIBERTY IS NOT A BATTLE:
Liberty is not a battle that requires the conversion of others in order to win. Liberty is won when you accept the fact that you own yourself, that you have individual rights, and no one has the right to violate your freedom. When you accept that you are liberated.
VIOLATION OF FREEDOM:
A violation of freedom is an attack on a person by harming them, stealing from them, threatening them, or violating there individual rights.
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM:
There will always be people who try to violate our freedom. To remain free we have to be willing to defend our freedom.
That is the price of freedom.
THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM NEVER ENDS:
Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each
generation.
- Ronald Reagan
PRINCIPLES OF FREEDOM:
1 - All people are born free, created equal, and have individual rights.
2 - A society built on freedom is based on the individual rights that all people have.
3 - Interactions between people should be voluntary and free of force, fraud, theft, and threats.
4 - People have the right to self-ownership. Taxing you without your consent under the threat of force is robbery and is a violation of your rights.
5 - People have the right to carry weapons to defend themselves, there property, and there rights. We never have an obligation to let anyone commit aggression against us. No one has the right to harm you, steal from you, threaten you, or violate your rights.
6 - We have the right to seek leaders for ourselves but we have no right to force rulers on others. No matter how leaders are selected they are only human beings and they have no rights or claims that are higher then those of any other human. No one has the right to murder, enslave, or to steal. We can not give people any rights that we do not have ourselves.
7 - To help secure our individual rights, governments may be created, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter it, abolish it, or withdraw there consent to be governed.
QUESTIONS REGARDING OUR RIGHTS:
- Should government create laws that violate our individual rights?
- Should government violate our rights?
- Should police enforce laws that violate our rights?
- Is government allowed to take away our rights?
- Has government killed or imprisoned millions of people for victimless crimes?
- Is government the biggest violator of our individual rights?
- Is government the biggest threat to our freedom?
- If a person harms, steals, threatens, or violates our rights, is he a criminal?
- Do we have an obligation to obey criminals?
- If government harms, steals, threatens, or violates our rights, is it a criminal organization?
- Do we have an obligation to obey a criminal organization?
- Do we have an obligation to obey anyone who violates our rights?
- Should interactions between people be voluntary?
- Should interactions between people be free of force, fraud, theft, and threats?
- Does anyone have the right to claim ownership over you?
- Do you own yourself or is someone else your master?
VOTE FOR FREEDOM:
Vote for freedom by not electing anyone to rule and rob you.
People can seek leaders for themselves but they have no right to force rulers on me. No one has the right to violate my freedom.
People can pay taxes if they want but they have no right to force taxes on me. No one has the right to rob me.
I own myself. I can live my life and spend my money as I see fit.
