Good essay. A similar issue I have encountered: Americans who want to ban guns, or at least regulate them very strictly, but also oppose the existence of prisons and law enforcement. They haven't thought their ideas through even a little.
I agree with the vast majority of this. Obviously, enforcement mechanisms are critical to prevent defection, and it's in precisely those areas where enforcement is least comfortable for the enforcers that it's most critical.
But I have to take strong exception to Yglesias' position on the traffic issue. My rule in this regard is simple: stop snitching. Just fucking stop. Refrain from involving the state in a dispute wherever possible. Just because you have the right to do a thing does not mean it's the right thing to do.
If you want to be a busybody and annoy your (upper middle-class) neighbors, such as Yglesias has, go ahead. Leave notes under their windshields if you really want. You can even threaten to report them. Maybe (MAYBE) report them after you've given them fair notice that you're about and causing problems.
I accept that people with fake, expired, or obscured vehicle tags will be more likely to cause accidents and drive too fast and so on. But again, the people who Yglesias is playing freelance police on are rich DCers, who almost certainly cause traffic accidents at below the per capita rate. Me personally, I'm a wealthy lawyer, and I regularly disregard traffic rules I don't like or that are inconvenient. When traffic is light enough, I rarely drive slower than 80 mph. I roll through red lights and stop signs at empty intersections. Never caused a single accident, because I actually know how to drive safely.
If you wanted to target drivers who are likely to cause actual physical harm in traffic, you'll need to do it in a different part of DC. The people Matt is snitching will tend to be people who already pay a tremendous amount of money in taxes and fees to the government, and who are law-abiding in every respect that normal people recognize as important.
Fund the murder police. Defund the traffic police. Defund the IRS.
Good essay. A similar issue I have encountered: Americans who want to ban guns, or at least regulate them very strictly, but also oppose the existence of prisons and law enforcement. They haven't thought their ideas through even a little.
I agree with the vast majority of this. Obviously, enforcement mechanisms are critical to prevent defection, and it's in precisely those areas where enforcement is least comfortable for the enforcers that it's most critical.
But I have to take strong exception to Yglesias' position on the traffic issue. My rule in this regard is simple: stop snitching. Just fucking stop. Refrain from involving the state in a dispute wherever possible. Just because you have the right to do a thing does not mean it's the right thing to do.
If you want to be a busybody and annoy your (upper middle-class) neighbors, such as Yglesias has, go ahead. Leave notes under their windshields if you really want. You can even threaten to report them. Maybe (MAYBE) report them after you've given them fair notice that you're about and causing problems.
I accept that people with fake, expired, or obscured vehicle tags will be more likely to cause accidents and drive too fast and so on. But again, the people who Yglesias is playing freelance police on are rich DCers, who almost certainly cause traffic accidents at below the per capita rate. Me personally, I'm a wealthy lawyer, and I regularly disregard traffic rules I don't like or that are inconvenient. When traffic is light enough, I rarely drive slower than 80 mph. I roll through red lights and stop signs at empty intersections. Never caused a single accident, because I actually know how to drive safely.
If you wanted to target drivers who are likely to cause actual physical harm in traffic, you'll need to do it in a different part of DC. The people Matt is snitching will tend to be people who already pay a tremendous amount of money in taxes and fees to the government, and who are law-abiding in every respect that normal people recognize as important.
Fund the murder police. Defund the traffic police. Defund the IRS.
Good write up. Does "cis-women" mean "women" (I'm not a biologist)?