Consumers obsess over inflation; like egg prices topping $4; but barely notice a green card holder’s arrest for peacefully criticizing Israel. The contrast is sharp: grocery hikes since 2022 spark loud gripes; while a free-speech crackdown gets muted shrugs. Eggs hit wallets daily; tracked by CPI; the detention feels remote; abstract. Economic woes drown out systemic overreach; showing how personal costs overshadow eroded rights.
Egg Prices Soar, Free Speech Sinks
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The TMI Show" talk show. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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Yeah, pretty much. That’s democracy for you: its main advantage over other forms of government is that it makes it harder for the government to act against the self-perceived interests of the majority. But something that only impacts a minority is easy enough to slip by unless the majority is somehow convinced that it concerns them too. Grocery prices affect everyone in practice; crackdowns on free speech may affect everyone in theory, but how many would actually consider themselves likely to run afoul of them, if they even think that such a crackdown will be extended beyond the obviously anomalous and nasty “anti-Semites”?