Dear Jasper John
You cite MLK’s protest against segregated lunch counters as a good thing, especially his civil disobedience. I agree but wonder how you square your anti-government beliefs with the government’s ultimately outlawing discrimination by private restaurants and other businesses. It was the big, bad “gooferment” that ended segregation with the private owners and local officials howling to continue segregation. (Not to mention murdering people)
In the case of Rosa Parks the federal government intervened and countermanded the evil policies of the Alabama government. Without “big government” blacks in the South would still be second class citizens and suffer ungodly discrimination.
BTW the government makes it very easy to pay tolls these days with the EZ Pass system. Chandler should have invested a little time with our government run toll system and escaped all his problems ( unless he was escaping from a crime and did not want his itinerary known)
Also that terrible recent bus accident near my old neighborhood in the Bronx clearly demonstrated the need for more government regulation of interstate transportation. Private enterprise often sacrifices safety for prices and profits.
Sincerely yours,
Donald M Stebbins
BS 1961
[JR: I'll try a new spaced format to respond ---
(1) Technically, the Montgomery City Councils, aka the local Gooferment, and the supposed "State of Alabama" Gooferment passed segregation laws. Then the supposed "Federal" Gooferment came in an overrode them. Do you think "greedy" businessmen would turn away paying Customers without being told to do it by Gooferment?
(2) Again, the "greedy" bus owners had been running their DESEGREGATED bus lines for years until the local Gooferment, a gang calling itself the "City of Montgomery" issued a diktat segregating the buses. The Bus Owners were the principle opposition.
(3) Oh, yes, without Massa Gooferment, and Massa Kennedy, blacks would be on the Plantation again. (Unlike where they are now. Trapped in a cycle of welfare "farming" and the principal victims in the "(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs". Free at last cause the Federal Gooferment done saved them.) Ignoring for the moment that the country was massively behind the Freedom Marches. White folk were appalled at the local Gooferment's actions. Or, don't you remember the history. Did you think the Federal Gooferment even noticed until the people were in the streets?
(4) Sure, EZPASS makes the Gooferment's chains very light. Ignoring for the moment that the Gooferment has ignored everyone's Fourth Amendment right to be left alone. They have NO business tracking Americans. Him, me, or even you. the Gooferment should be operating road, "taxing" them again for using them, or refusing to accept it's own "money" in violation of the legal tender laws. Right on the CNote it says that they have to accept it. :-) Wouldn't want to break yet another Federal diktat, would we? LOL!
(5) Yup, we sure need Gooferment regulation to keep those buses safe. Excuse me, but weren't the buses already HEAVILY regulated? So does that mean that the various regulators of busses -- Federal, NY State, CT State, NYC, and all the police in between -- all not doing their jobs? Guess so. SO let's add more diktats and hire more bureaucrats so they can NOT do their jobs too. Don't you see that it can NEVER work? Those fourteen people were dead because they believed that the Gooferment was protecting them. They believed the implied promise of the casino and bus company to move their bodies safely from here to there. If they'd been vigilant, they be protecting themselves. Holding the casino and bus company up to scrutiny and retribution.
(6) Monopolies, which can ONLY be created by Gooferment fiat, often are allowed to sacrifice everything for profits. Which somehow, all or part, make it back into the pockets of politicians and bureaucrats. In a truly free market, businessmen "love" their Customers who make profits possible. Killing them or getting them killed is bad for repeat business.
I'm sorry that you find it so distasteful to even consider that Gooferment is NOT the answer to our collective prayers for Salvation. It's dumb, brutish, and can't find its own <synonym for donkey> in dark closet. Worse than that it's dangerous. It kills, maims, and imprisons people. It's force. And that's the problem. Cooperation is much more effective.
--- Guess once again, we'll have to agree to disagree agreeably.]
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