Who Really Killed Eric Garner?
Eric Garner was arrested thirty times on charges of assault, grand larceny and resisting arrest. A number of those thirty arrests were for selling untaxed cigarettes. I would imagine that at least some of the resisting charges were related to this, as well. No matter how you look at it, he was a petty criminal. Maybe, he was worse than that, I don't know. One things for certain, though, he didn't deserve to die.
Unfortunately, the likelihood you are going to have a confrontation with the police that ends badly, expands exponentially when you commit crimes. It spreads even further when our government criminalizes innocuous behavior. But, the government wants their taxes. That amounts to about five dollars or so on an average pack of cigarettes. And, lets face it, there isn't much use passing a law if you aren't going to enforce it.
If we pass enough laws, everyone, potentially, becomes a criminal. That places the citizenry right in the path of the police, who are licensed to use force—whatever forced is deemed necessary—even if they're just selling untaxed cigarettes. If you're arrested enough times, the probability increases, yet again, that you will eventually come up against some hard-ass cop having a bad day, maybe a group of them, who are just damned tired of arresting you.
Think about it like this; if you live in Utah, you are probably never going to be attacked by a shark. Why? Because there's no ocean in Utah. However, if you live in Florida, the shark attack capital of the world, and, you swim every day, the odds increase by a factor of a whole lot, that you'll eventually encounter one! I can tell you this is true from personal experience. That's why making laws that increasingly govern every aspect of your life is not such a good idea.
For instance, in many places in our “Free” country you can't legally hire you're next door neighbor to watch your kids? You may, in fact, do it, but not not legally. You can't legally pay a friend who's an unlicensed mechanic to repair your car? You can't charge people a fee to eat dinner at a party in your private residence, without paying massive restaurant based costs and fees to the government? You can't pay a jitney driver a small fee to drive grandma around town, instead of paying a taxi driver ten maybe twenty times as much. Why? Because the government charges more than a million dollars for a single taxi medallion in New York City. Why are they so damned expensive? Because, the government makes hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and fees. This, in turn, drives up the cost of a taxi ride so high, that grandma might have to walk a mile towing grocery bags, instead of being able to ride—which grandma can't afford to do—not if she want's to eat. Who can afford to ride in a taxi cab, then? Only folks with a fair amount of disposable income. The taxi companies make out, too. It takes a lot of money to buy into your own territory. And, if you have a territory, it can be very profitable. If you think about it, it's sort of like the Mob. No, let me rephrase that “It's just like the Mob.”
That is the nature of an obtrusive government. When the police are told to go out and arrest people for selling untaxed cigarettes “Cuff em, drag em in if you have to, but get them to stop, by force, if necessary!” That's when bad things happen.
That's not sexy, though. And, it doesn't make the news. But it should. It doesn't make the news, in part, because people don't ever seem to make the connection. They should be asking “How much does it cost every time you arrest and book a man like Eric Garner for such a petty crime. Not once, but dozens of times?” At some point, this is, financially speaking, a losing proposition. You can be sure that the cost of arresting petty criminals, for meaningless crimes, absorbs an enormous amount of tax money, far more than what was lost in the commission of the crime. But, it's the tax payers who foot the bill, not law makers, so nobody does anything about it, certainly not the politicians.
It is empowering to one group, however. That being, government. Government gets bigger and bigger—and more and more activities are criminalized as the result. The prisons grow. The prison populations grow, too. The courts are clogged. The lawyers are ecstatic. And the people, rightly, become angry.
Final question; was Eric Garner killed because he was Black? The lead arresting officer was also Black and a woman. So, was she a bigot? Was she sexist? I think not. No, it's what happens, inevitably, when you determine that the government should be involved in every aspect of your life. What evidence do I have to support my opinion? Just about all of human history. And, if that's not enough, there's nothing else I can say.
Mark Magula
Unfortunately, the likelihood you are going to have a confrontation with the police that ends badly, expands exponentially when you commit crimes. It spreads even further when our government criminalizes innocuous behavior. But, the government wants their taxes. That amounts to about five dollars or so on an average pack of cigarettes. And, lets face it, there isn't much use passing a law if you aren't going to enforce it.
If we pass enough laws, everyone, potentially, becomes a criminal. That places the citizenry right in the path of the police, who are licensed to use force—whatever forced is deemed necessary—even if they're just selling untaxed cigarettes. If you're arrested enough times, the probability increases, yet again, that you will eventually come up against some hard-ass cop having a bad day, maybe a group of them, who are just damned tired of arresting you.
Think about it like this; if you live in Utah, you are probably never going to be attacked by a shark. Why? Because there's no ocean in Utah. However, if you live in Florida, the shark attack capital of the world, and, you swim every day, the odds increase by a factor of a whole lot, that you'll eventually encounter one! I can tell you this is true from personal experience. That's why making laws that increasingly govern every aspect of your life is not such a good idea.
For instance, in many places in our “Free” country you can't legally hire you're next door neighbor to watch your kids? You may, in fact, do it, but not not legally. You can't legally pay a friend who's an unlicensed mechanic to repair your car? You can't charge people a fee to eat dinner at a party in your private residence, without paying massive restaurant based costs and fees to the government? You can't pay a jitney driver a small fee to drive grandma around town, instead of paying a taxi driver ten maybe twenty times as much. Why? Because the government charges more than a million dollars for a single taxi medallion in New York City. Why are they so damned expensive? Because, the government makes hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and fees. This, in turn, drives up the cost of a taxi ride so high, that grandma might have to walk a mile towing grocery bags, instead of being able to ride—which grandma can't afford to do—not if she want's to eat. Who can afford to ride in a taxi cab, then? Only folks with a fair amount of disposable income. The taxi companies make out, too. It takes a lot of money to buy into your own territory. And, if you have a territory, it can be very profitable. If you think about it, it's sort of like the Mob. No, let me rephrase that “It's just like the Mob.”
That is the nature of an obtrusive government. When the police are told to go out and arrest people for selling untaxed cigarettes “Cuff em, drag em in if you have to, but get them to stop, by force, if necessary!” That's when bad things happen.
That's not sexy, though. And, it doesn't make the news. But it should. It doesn't make the news, in part, because people don't ever seem to make the connection. They should be asking “How much does it cost every time you arrest and book a man like Eric Garner for such a petty crime. Not once, but dozens of times?” At some point, this is, financially speaking, a losing proposition. You can be sure that the cost of arresting petty criminals, for meaningless crimes, absorbs an enormous amount of tax money, far more than what was lost in the commission of the crime. But, it's the tax payers who foot the bill, not law makers, so nobody does anything about it, certainly not the politicians.
It is empowering to one group, however. That being, government. Government gets bigger and bigger—and more and more activities are criminalized as the result. The prisons grow. The prison populations grow, too. The courts are clogged. The lawyers are ecstatic. And the people, rightly, become angry.
Final question; was Eric Garner killed because he was Black? The lead arresting officer was also Black and a woman. So, was she a bigot? Was she sexist? I think not. No, it's what happens, inevitably, when you determine that the government should be involved in every aspect of your life. What evidence do I have to support my opinion? Just about all of human history. And, if that's not enough, there's nothing else I can say.
Mark Magula