Back to pounding that pavement!

Even a capitalist society has laws that preclude businesses from engaging in various practices. There was a time when restrictions were few. We had child labor back then, dangerous products being sold without warning, rampant misrepresentation of the various qualities of goods and services, and corporate combinations that led to price gouging and other unsavory practices.

Keep in mind that legitimate moving companies are licensed and therefore, at least theoretically accountable. The individual who engages a non-licensed company is running a higher risk of damage to their property. Many times these operations change their numbers and company names so that those running them can’t be easily found.

Someone who is putting up thousands of posters isn’t looking to make a basic living. In fact it is conceivable that the poster is a legitimate business that wishes to appear as if they are providing a discounted service. As no company name is given, who knows.

Fair is fair. I know you have limited resources for getting your message out. And while I don’t like any medium like this which is illegal, I understand your use of it. but can we ask you to clean up after yourself?

Lew from Brooklyn

PS Good luck tomorrow.

For some reason this reminds me of one of my favorite Yogi Berra quotes. Asked what he would do if he found a million dollars he replied “I’d find the guy who lost it. And if he was poor I’d return it.” The assumption is that postering provides these people with their livelihood. What if every business decided that postering was the means of getting business? What happens when they run out of space on the telephone and traffic poles?

Then there are the campaign workers of our Mayor, who are engaging in similar practices in some places. They should have been told where they can put these things and where they can’t.

Maybe we should fine the mayor. Especially since he believes that fining us for engaging in behavior unacceptable to him is for the good of society. As an example, he doesn’t want anyone feeding the birds. i mean, any kind of bird. I’m amazed that they haven’t gone after the supermarkets that sell large bags of bird feed. They’re not being used to feed the family canary.

Birds are aesthetically good for our environment. So are squirrels. Possums eat vermin. We could live without raccoons though, I haven’t seen any myself but others I know have. Raccoons are destructive, and harm other animals.

Our tolerances have limits.

As I wrote earlier in this thread, public bulletin boards could be set up to allow small businesses to promote themselves. Thusly people seeking services would read the ads. In the meantime, I shall be removing every ad I see posted on a pole. As should all responsible people. The number of these thing is so out of control that one person can’t eliminate all of them. I know its like attempting the drinking the ocean, these signs will reappear quickly, but it better than merely complaining.

I am in no way discounting the negatives of postering. It may be easy for many of us to be angry and dismissive about the advertisements placed on our cars, poles, and front gates. Weigh the inconvenience of picking up stray papers or the “ugliness” of a telephone pole covered with signs against the need to connect people with skills with those who need their services. For some that is their livelihood. Weigh the seconds it takes to discard unwanted papers against the need of some people to compare prices, clip coupons, or get cut-rate repairs. In my calculation, the latter is a more important concern, and the former is comparatively petty. Without on-street advertising as well as leafletting, the only way a “little guy” can get established is by joining up as an employee of a major outfit. This route offers far less chance of independence.

Surely the three of us candidates, and many people reading this blog have reached a point in life, largely due to the degrees we hold and years of work, where we no longer need to “hustle” as much for an extra dollar or two, nor cut corners as much in order to save money. Furthermore, I’m sure the occasional fine would not devastate any one of us. But years ago, this was not the case for me.

However, I realized that I because I had certain advantages which many did not in this City, I was better able than the majority to pull myself out of financial hardship. At that time, I vowed that if I ever was in a position to speak out for those people who struggle to better their situation and are handicapped by City fines and regulations, I would do so in whatever capacity I could. Such people often work until they drop, and have little time to get involved in politics or reach out to their elected officials. They probably lack the means to craft defenses to violations with which they are charged. More likely than not, the people for whom I am advocating are not reading this, and will likely not vote (if they are even eligible). Regardless, I will continue to speak out on their behalf.

As far as parking tickets are concerned, I continue to attack their overall premise. Alternate side parking regulations are a money-making scam. The same gutter which must be accessible to the sweeper is the gutter for which the adjacent property owner is forcibly made responsible. Fine the homeowner for garbage in the gutter. Fine the driver for oversleeping and not moving the car. Pay for sweeping out of our tax dollars. How much garbage is there, really? Much of the district, sections of the 50s in particular, have NO alternate side parking regulations. Contrary to the what you would expect, the streets are tidy and well-kept, not festering dumps, owing to the fact that the amount of trash which falls in the gutter is more than manageable for the residents to clean at their convenience.

Relatively simple (by technological standards) civilizations used nothing but math and manual labor to build the most incredible things.

We’ve got Modern Technology, Advanced Mathematics, Futuristic Metal Alloys, the mental brain power of 6 billion people on the planet. For anybody to claim that we CAN’T achieve any of these things is plain ludicrous. We’ve seen more technological and scientific advancement in the last 100 years then in the entire history of the human race. What is that? 60,000 years?

What’s Obama fond of saying? Yes We Can?

Any reasonably educated person should have a “true” understanding of the difference between the MTA and Dollar Vans. It’s an issue of scale. Now, granted, when we get into the specifics of economics vs macroeconomics or microeconomics or whatever I know diddly, but it’s fairly easy to see that the MTA is a raging river and Dollar Vans are a little creek somewhere far up stream.

Dollar Vans aren’t the only ones who operate without insurance. Car Services do it too. Not just without insurance but without licenses.

Which brings me to another point. Is it just me or does it seem like every single city agency is filled to the brim with middle management. People pulling between 50-100k a year to “supervise” and “manage” or “audit” just about everything in site. When the “grunts” the people that are supposed to be out and about the eyes and ears, the actual hand of the city are slowly being fired off.

Aonther quick tangent. Robert Moses made this city what it is today with money given to the city over a 30-40 year period by the New Deal and other programs. For good or ill, despite any past controversy nobody can deny that. Some of those projects are starting to fall apart. Today we’ve got Obama and the Stimulus package. This city needs to get every cent it could get to replace bridges and highways and finish the 2nd ave train tunnel and everything else.

Woo! Another rant on city mismanagement brought to you by Arthur!