EDITORIAL – Cottage industry of dissent killing legitimate vigilance

You cannot please everybody. So when there are people who oppose a new law, that comes as a matter of course. Nothing to be surprised about. What is disconcerting is when the same people oppose, over and over again, everything new that comes along.

This cottage industry of dissent, which is the main source of livelihood for left-wing agitators, has found a new product to sell - the new anti-terrorism law which swung into effect on July 15.

To dissect any new law in search of some onerous details is good. For people never really get to know what lawmakers allow, wittingly or unwittingly, to go into the statute books until it hits them in the face.

But while eternal vigilance has its uses, it must also never be used to stifle accent on the positive. Natural human tendencies toward skepticism must not overshadow the presumption that all human endeavor is geared toward the betterment of all.

The new anti-terrorism law is meant to safeguard the health and well-being of everyone. The purpose of its crafting and the sum of its benefits are far bigger and far outweigh whatever blemishes and imperfections the leftist agitators may find.

And find warts they will. For just as in any study, anyone determined to prove anything will always find that proof. That is why the industry of studies is a hugely successful tool in the marketing of commercial products, a formula now adopted by political agitators.

The trouble with this cottage industry of dissent is the counter-productive effect it has on legitimate dissent. While natural human vigilance gives life to legitimate dissent, making a cottage industry out of it forces legitimate issues to go stale and suspect.

Whatever legitimate issues ought to be tackled in this new anti-terrorism law are being consequently ignored by most people who feel they are part of the leftist agenda of constant agitation and whose legitimacy is therefore tainted and deserves to be dropped and ignored.