What I am seeing on Longboat Key, during the current local election cycle, disturbs me more than anything else I have experienced in any of the several communities I have lived in.
There appears to be an underlying fear that openly opposing the present political authorities will be punished with social reprisals. More than a few residents have privately confided in me that they are unwilling to openly support Ray Rajewski, either with campaign contributions or campaign signs in their yards. They fear making enemies, and being ejected from various social groups.
A few good people have asked me to make contributions to candidate Rajewski using my name, and they would give me cash in return. These people call me "brave" for making a contribution to Ray's campaign. Is this healthy for our community I ask myself?
Why is there such socio-political fear and loathing in our community?
Why are so many residents afraid to express their beliefs and political choices, even to the point of being afraid to contribute to a political campaign?
I am not talking about only one or two families.
To me, any time people are fearful of joining the community dialog, we have cease to be a free people. This is scary to me. Yet, again and again people ask me to fight for a particular community issue, and openly express fears about being politically active themselves. "We don't want to make enemies" is a common thread in these conversations.
Certainly one could accuse these citizens of being "sheeple". But that would not completely explain why they are fearful in the first place. People have told me about perceived social ostracism and exclusion resulting from their actions. It is unfortunate citizens feel this way, since even the fear of punishment for one's beliefs undermines the foundation of our constitutional republic.
I am sorry that candidate Rajewski will not be receiving his full measure of campaign contributions. I am sorry that there will be people who are afraid to put a sign in their yard. I wonder if that would be the case for a national election.
It seems on Longboat Key we are still free to vote, but we are in jeopardy of losing freedom of political expression. What is almost entertainment on the national political stage is clearly taboo in our community.
When people lose their freedom of expression, for whatever reasons, our society is diminished somehow.
