August 28, 2002 8:56 pm - A message to my Communist Comrades at the San Jose Mercury News: To the Editor: The First Amendment is supposed to protect our right to freedom of association.  To our founders, that meant two parties could agree to an exchange both felt was mutually beneficial, or agree not to exchange.  Absent force, fraud or breach of contract, they could do so without interference from the heavy hand of the state. Compare that ideal with today’s state of affairs.  Specifically, the latest in a pile of job-destroying measures from our political leaders is mandatory paid leave for up to six weeks.  More money will be automatically confiscated from individuals’ wages to pay for this scheme, and those who don’t take such leave have no claim on their own property. Nor do the employers - the other party in this equation - have any choice to opt out.  That money will no doubt be sucked into the maw, spent on featherbedding, logrolling, and other nefarious activities by our betters in Sacramento. When one considers First Amendment violations against association - wage and price controls; affirmative action and other thinly veiled quota systems; American with Disability Act measures; smoking bans in bars; and now compulsory leave with pay - it is a wonder we have any job creation at all. It’s difficult to determine if all of this collectivist nonsense is fascist, corporatist, or socialism-lite.  One thing is certain: government has destroyed any notion of freedom and replaced it with feel-good paternalism that treats people like helpless children.