In reference to Mark Oliver’s letter regarding our headlong slide into ‘nannystateism’ (13/1/16) the nannies were out in force during their replies in Echonetdaily, responding with an almost appalling disgust that somebody dare challenge the law.
People who wish to wear helmets to ride a bike, close their windows and lock their car at every possible opportunity and want to voluntarily offer their saliva for testing just in case you may have passively inhaled a marijuana joint the last time you went to the pub, are all welcome to do so freely. Mark’s point, and that of the majority of law-abiding conscious citizens living in the region that I have met and talked to, is that we are sick and tired of being told what to do when to do it and by whom.
Freedoms, just like democracies (even though the democracy we have is a farce), have been fought for by many for many years. Not just the right to vote or the right to a fair trial, but more significantly the right to live a safe but hassle-free lifestyle, away from police harassment and over-regulated day-to day-activities.
Once upon a time, a public servant’s job in the police force was to serve and protect: to chase down criminals and show empathy and compassion towards teenagers and the young, who are learning life’s tricky path.
Nowadays it is all about producing criminals, topping up the state’s coffers financially and producing enough crime to maintain and continue the privatized world of law courts, lawyers, barristers, jails and those who rely on the boys in blue to prop up their crony self interest..
This topic riles me because it is not about the freedoms we have any longer as much as it is about those freedoms we are losing at an enormously fast rate.
Risk is part of life, as is having fun, taking drugs, and believing somewhere in amongst all this that the state and its elected powers are there to produce safety nets for our own passage, as they are required, and not to legislate in a knee-jerk reaction.
Acts of law willy nilly favouring a few self interested lobby groups mean this fair, just and valid belief in our ability to self-govern and control most of our own lives and the consequences is sadly is no more. Shame Australia.
Kol Dimond, Mullumbimby
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
