Maintain the rule of law
Seventeenth century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes said men form governments to defend themselves against the violence inherent in nature and to rescue them from lives that are “nasty, brutish and short.”
Apparently, Cory Tomczyk, Republican candidate for the 29th Senate District seat, has never heard of Hobbes.
In some jaw-dropping statements, Tomczyk, one of five federal and state candidates at Saturday’s forum held at MilTrim Farm, town of Bern, indicated he thinks farmers haven’t left the state of nature and, if they wish, they can blithely ignore the mandates of governments, law and regulation.
As of February, the Wisconsin DNR, following a federal judge’s decision, ended all hunting of wolves in the state and voided landowner permits for “lethal control” of problem wolves.
Still, the Mosinee business owner said: “If the wolves are damaging a farmer’s property, if the deer or moose or bear is damaging a farmer’s property, it is the farmer’s right to protect his property regardless of what the DNR says.”
This is a stunning statement. We would love to understand just where these aggrieved farmers get their “right” to shoot bears, deer, moose or wolves if, in fact, the farmers stand outside the scope of DNR regulation and, indeed, all of civilization. There are no “rights” in nature, only violence.
Tomczyk’s views get more interesting. He doesn’t think that wolves themselves are in nature. These animals, which he claims belong to the DNR, can and must be held responsible for the damage that they do.
Again, the candidate said: The DNR doesn’t live among the wolves. The people who make the decisions about the wolves should live amongst the wolves. The DNR doesn’t live among the farmers who are getting damaged by wildlife. If they want to claim they are their animals, they should pay a fair price for the damage these animals do.
Now, we can nitpick this statement. The DNR doesn’t own wolves. They belong to the people of Wisconsin. The DNR regulates hunting wolves as part of a public trust on behalf of Wisconsin citizens. In addition, the DNR, does pay farmers up to $10,000 a year for wildlife damage. But let’s get to Tomczyk’s serious point. It is that the DNR (the public) should compensate farmers fully for all the damage wolves do. In this idea, he envisions a world of dollars and cents, of transactions and fair compensation. It is a businessman’s ideal world. Such a place would, however, take the wolf out of the wilderness.
Tomczyk really doesn’t want to live in such a world. In front of a group of farmers, he’ll say he wants the DNR to pay farmers for all of their lost cattle. He doesn’t want to stand before a Whitetails Unlimited banquet, however, to tell deer hunters they need to pay a DNR surcharge to reward the wolves for every Chronic Wasting Disease infected whitetail that has been taken down.
The candidate takes the wolf out of the wilderness when it costs society, but would return the canine to the wilderness when it benefits society. Any right thinking wolf should get a good lawyer.
We, as Americans, do not live in nature. We are under the law. The movies flirt with characters, such as cowboys and detectives, that live outside of the law. But that’s entertainment. When we flirt with ignoring the law, we step back into nature, encouraging violence. Our hope is that Tomczyk, if elected, will remain true to his oath of office, and support the constitution and the rule of law.
Even when it involves the gray wolf.
Editorial by Peter Weinschenk, The Record-Review
