Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
Posted on 08/20/2014 2:48:12 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Jeff Smith, a New School professor and former Missouri state senator, had a sensational op-ed in this weekend’s New York Times that dived into the economic forces that have helped shape the strife in Ferguson. His big point is that the local police have a strong financial incentive to arrest, ticket, and otherwise harass the city’s black residents for minor offenses, because that’s how the department funds its budget.
How so? From Smith:
St. Louis County contains 90 municipalities, most with their own city hall and police force. Many rely on revenue generated from traffic tickets and related fines. According to a study by the St. Louis nonprofit Better Together, Ferguson receives nearly one-quarter of its revenue from court fees; for some surrounding towns it approaches 50 percent.
Municipal reliance on revenue generated from traffic stops adds pressure to make more of them. One town, Sycamore Hills, has stationed a radar-gun-wielding police officer on its 250-foot northbound stretch of Interstate.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
“It’s incredibly simple to protest but NOT riot, loot and burn.”
Actually, that’s not the case. The vast majority of arrests were outsiders not locals. They’re here to riot for profit and/or for politics. If they think you’re going to stage a protest they’ll show up in droves to manufacture their next opportunity for anarchy and profit. Peaceful protest is not part of their game plan.
Including the first night of rioting, looting and burning?
The cause of ferguson is a legitimate shooting in self defense (much like the trayvon martin case) was turned into a lynching lie about a white cop— by agenda driven media zealots.
then black criminals used it as an excuse to destroy and steal things, And black “leaders” used it as a means to spread hate and lies.
That’s what happened, that’s what went wrong, not these other distractions.
Just when you think the leftist racists have scraped the bottom of the sewer tank clean they come up with a new mouthful.
“According to a study by the St. Louis nonprofit Better Together, Ferguson receives nearly one-quarter of its revenue from court fees; for some surrounding towns it approaches 50 percent.”
That completely blows up his thesis. As a percentage, Ferguson gets only half as much as some surrounding towns. That makes Ferguson a terrible example. Liberals are idiots.
The only solution is to dissolve all forms of local government and have a single end-all central government.
ping
More like the danger of for-profit race baiting.
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.” ― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Yes, and I’m tired of people making up reasons why these criminals were angry. They look for excuses to loot and has nothing to do with any real grievance. They are thugs, pure and simple.
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