It is very rare that the news media reports an incident which perfectly illustrates the state in action. Yet that is exactly what CNN did tonight on the Lou Dobbs show. The incident in question was one of those little "throw away" pieces, which are not meant to be real news. And yet this was. The Washington Post story is here.
It seems that in Salem, MA a sausage vendor called the police to shutdown a lemonade stand, which he correctly said, did not have a license and was taking away his business. The police complied, teaching the two children running it that one cannot start a business with out getting permission from the state, and that they had better watch out, because a bigger business, one that is better connected with the state than they are, will use the power of the state to shut down competitors.
But all is well! The mayor intervened, having the (legal) sausage vendor allow the two boys to work as sub-contractors, under the vendor's license. The state comes to the resuce!
A wonderful lesson in civics for today's youth.
America, land of those who used to be free.
To be fair, on paper Costa Rica is just as bad. At least here enforcement is almost nonexistent.
Using the State
Matt says:
Submitted by Matt (not verified) on Fri, 2005-08-05 07:25.
I think it really stinks that so many people are mad at a sausage vendor. He's trying to make a living and support his family and pay his taxes!! It's not like he's a boheme selling snake oil. If Enron were run by cute little boys they would still be in business.
» reply
Eric says:
I watched that news story tonight too! My wife's comment was that if the sausage wanted to make things right he would pay for the kid's business licenses and reimburse them for damages. At least she comes at with a solution that deals with the individuals in the situation. My guess is that most people seeing this story will think how horrible the sausage guy is and not even stop to think that the business licenses and intervention of the Mayor are the real problem.