Although I very strongly agree that the power of a nation needs to be in the hands of "the people" and not the governments, I believe the reason we created a government in the first place was to help regulate our freedoms. Now, I don't necessarily agree that what the government was originally created for is still being followed through with today, but I will say that I have no problem with the city of Chicago stepping in to take a stand against abuse. Freedom is the power to make choices and with that freedom comes the obligation of making the highest quality of choices; not only for ourselves, but for our families, cities, country and world. When we as a species fail to make wise decisions I believe they should be questioned and altered, for that is evolution of the mind and of a nation. Freedom to choose is a beautiful privilege that I am grateful to have, but we all need to realize that not everyones choices will be the same, thus "right and wrong" is born. I think the "murderer" is "wrong" and the murderer thinks he's "right." I know this all is situational but if we didn't have enforcement on things that brought harm to the world and its people/creatures I think we may find ourselves amidst chaos. I also think that people don't realize the enormity of a situation until it affects them. Everyone should have the freedom to choose but what happens when it starts affecting your everyday life? This is where mass decisions come in handy and I believe that any law that prohibits abuse, whether it be a child, animal, spouse, or destroying the rainforest, to be a just law. I just can't see any reason why we would want to put another living creature through more harm than what is required so that we may entice our palette. Being a carnivore myself, I understand the food chain and what it entails, and have no false illusions that something died so that I may live. But, I do like to think that the choices I make will have the least hurtful impact as possible. I think that there are plenty of amazing foods in this world that are already delicious enough that we can forgo the side dish of goose abuse. I also just can't see any gain of going through measures of animal abuse other than the producers wanting to make a profit. I don't believe that any living entity deserves a harder life than necessary due to greed.