The New Socialist Freeconomy
I do think we as a society should support those who legitimately cannot support themselves, because of mental illness or some serious disability.
I think others share that few. Many others or maybe even most others in this country.
But the bar has been lowered now on who we are expected to pay for.
Increasingly, people are outraged -- and see it as a form of terrible social injustice -- if they are not given food, transportation, and housing for free or at least at highly subsidized rates.
Seth Barron writes at City Journal about mass protests about paying subway fares.
That's right. It's now outrageous to expect people to pay to take the subway.
Barron reports:
Part of last Friday's protest included a mass refusal to pay subway fares, with scores of people clambering over the turnstiles in reaction against what advocates call the "criminalization of poverty"--or enforcement of fare collection. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted her support, explaining, "ending mass incarceration means challenging a system that jails the poor to free the rich. Arresting people who can't afford a $2.75 fare makes no one safer and destabilizes our community."But almost nobody goes to jail for fare evasion, as Ocasio-Cortez surely knows. The Mayor's Office for Criminal Justice reports 32 jail admissions for fare evasion in the first three months of 2019, though on any given day roughly two people get incarcerated for the crime. Over that same period, 992 people got arrested for fare evasion, and another 18,000 received summonses for theft of service. A miniscule fraction--about 0.2 percent--of people stopped and charged with jumping turnstiles wound up in jail, likely repeat offenders.
...As he prepares to run a reformist campaign against District Attorney Cyrus Vance in 2021, Manhattan state assemblyman Dan Quart has introduced a bill that would cap the penalty for fare evasion at the cost of the fare, in order to "lessen the burden on poor people and prevent them from being unnecessarily tangled up in the criminal justice system." Quart calls fare evasion "an economic decision" and decries the "long-term, adverse effects" that result from involvement with the criminal-justice system--that is, with breaking the law. Lowering the penalty for theft to restitution of the value stolen eliminates any incentive not to steal. If the only penalty for fare evasion is paying the fare--what law-abiding people do with no prompting--then paying becomes voluntary.
...A rising and vocal element among the activist Left favors free transit as a measure for economic and racial justice; certainly the hundreds of people who marched in Brooklyn believe that there should be no fare. Echoing elected officials such as Ocasio-Cortez, one protester commented, "The police have been extremely violent toward black kids for skipping the $2.75 fair when they make millions of dollars off the MTA's funds."
...In less than two months, New York's new criminal-justice reform laws will take effect. Thousands of people arrested for serious charges will no longer be eligible for even temporary incapacitation, but will be issued desk appearance tickets and sent on their way; only the most violent criminals will even be considered bailable. The city is contemplating enticing people with baseball tickets or gift cards to show up for their court dates. New York appears all too eager to write some new, dark chapters in a war on civility and public order.
I can understand not charging passengers. Taxes subsidize things that we think are important. I drive down free roads and see games in a stadium that is subsidized by tax dollars. I can see the value in providing people transportation to get to jobs and other necessities.
However, if there is a fee, people should pay it. It shouldn’t just be for suckers who follow the rules. Without a penalty for nonpayment that is exactly how it will go.
Jen at November 6, 2019 3:18 AM
No, you drive down roads paid for by gasoline taxes. You and other drivers pay for those roads every time you fill your tanks.
Unfortunately, politicians are the same the world over. If they see a pool of money, even if it's set aside for something (say, road maintenance), they'll spend it.
That's what they did in California. The gasoline tax receipts went into the general fund. And now, with the advent of electric cars and hybrids, people are using less gasoline, so the tax must be increased.
Yeah, that one's just stupidity on the part of the city/county government.
And, even with the municipally-funded stadium, the tickets are outrageously expensive. Not to mention the PSL you must buy to get season tickets.
Make the subway free and it becomes the homeless hotel. Can't tell you how many sleeping homeless guys I had to maneuver around when taking BART all those years working in San Francisco.
The poor do pay an disproportionate amount of the municipal fines and fees. The anger over that burden is what set Ferguson on fire - each little town surrounding St. Louis would issue a fine for an infraction (e.g., broken tail light) and require a court appearance. For a worker in the distant township, that could mean several court appearances (lost work days), multiple fines (for the broken tail light), and multiple court fees (usually many times the actual fine and payable no matter the outcome of any challenge).
I once got a ticket in rural North Carolina when visiting my father in the hospital (flew out from California). The fine was small, I think $35. The court fees were almost $200. And, even if I had beaten the ticket, I'd still owe the court fees. I decided to just pay the ticket and not fight it. Imagine if that $200 had been my only grocery money for the week.
When I moved out to California, the fine for driving singly in the HOV lane was roughly $150. By the time I left, fifteen years later, it had risen to $450 and you could drive in the HOV lane singly in an electric car or a hybrid, both of which are expensive. So, the well-off got to use the express lane to get to work while the not-so-well-off were stuck in 5mph traffic. Guess which group was more likely to get paid hourly or docked if late to work.
Politicians have a vicious tendency to view the taxpayers as a magic ATM through which to fund their pet projects.
Conan the Grammarian at November 6, 2019 4:17 AM
"I drive down free roads..."
Yeah, as Conan pointed out, that's not a good analogy. Imagine if there were, say, a $50 tax on each pair of shoes, and that money went to supporting public transportation. (An aside: In no time flat, there would be a massive black market in untaxed shoes. The only reason there isn't a big black market in untaxed gasoline is that large quantities of gasoline are too dangerous to handle without special equipment.)
The NYC subway system is already suffering the effects of decades of deferred maintenance due, in part, to the fact that fares don't cover the cost of operating the system. Imagine what will happen after fare revenue declines by 50% because of widespread turnstile-jumping. I'm guessing that at lot of the smaller stations, vandals will simply destroy the turnstiles, and then access will be unrestricted.
The de Blasio era is going to make the Dinkins era look like a garden party.
Cousin Dave at November 6, 2019 6:22 AM
I believe that the best way to help people is with non cash benefits. Things with strings attached that tend to push responsible behavior.
In that vein, one of the best ways to help people who are working would be with free or subsidized transportation to work.
However, as others have so quickly pointed out. It probably should not be a free pass for bums, drug addicts and the mentally ill to sleep on the subways and buses, making them unusable by taxpayers.
Isab at November 6, 2019 6:31 AM
I believe individuals who want to contribute to a fund to take care of those who can't support themselves are great. But to rob everyone else through "taxation"-- to fund "welfare"-- is still wrong. Only that fraction of society which volunteers to contribute, should.
However, if the subway gets any "tax" money, it shouldn't cost extra above and beyond that to ride it. Either end the tax subsidy or end the extra charge to use what you've already paid for. And, obviously, my choice would be to end the subsidy and let riders support the "service" completely.
Kent McManigal at November 6, 2019 7:02 AM
Over the past 30 years, those getting disability has skyrocketed. More people see themselves as disabled or just scam the system (free money). I feel proud that I have never taken any gov handouts but the pride in self-sufficiency is incompatible with seeing yourself as a victim.
If you want to encourage lawlessness, go ahead and ignore fare jumpers. California raised the $ value for shoplifting to be a crime to I think $900!!! and the consequence is a massive increase in petty theft. Duh. The Left seems to think increasingly that it is "unfair" to penalize criminals, but this way of thinking is how you get hell-holes like San Fran. Anarchists never actually want to live in places that implement their favored policy.
cc at November 6, 2019 8:53 AM
I think California will arrest you for having stolen $950 from an establishment, so thieves know to keep the amount under $950, which is just a misdemeanor and a court summons.
They've started seeing organized groups clean out smaller shops, each one taking just under the magic $950 mark. Since that's a criminal conspiracy, it probably runs afoul of conspiracy laws. But it probably doesn't look like one for the responding officer(s).
I R A Darth Aggie at November 6, 2019 9:46 AM
I'd be OK providing basic needs for people. Food, shelter. So they don't, you know, starve to death. But BASIC, and not universally, I don't know why I keep seeing articles about how every kid should get free lunch... what? No! Give free lunch to the kids who are really poor, sure.
And for parents, sure, give them basic food stuff so they don't die. But make it unappealing enough that no one WANTS to go on it. There sHOULD be a stigma, so people try not to go on it and try to get off as soon as possible.
NicoleK at November 6, 2019 12:24 PM
I didn't realize that NicoleK was such a raging, racist, alt-righter. I've been told that means testing is racist, and stigma? OH DEER LORD. Not in a polite society!!
I do like the the title's riff on the "New Soviet Man".
I R A Darth Aggie at November 6, 2019 1:15 PM
"In that vein, one of the best ways to help people who are working would be with free or subsidized transportation to work."
Isab, please do a simple Google search "New York City reduced fare metro card"
While not everyone is eligible, such a thing does exist.
Amy is right too many people expect something for "free." Just how many of those farecheaters have cell phones? And I do not mean a cheap simple no-frills phone; and they want to ride for free.
And how much NY state gasoline tax helps to pay for the NY subway? So upstaters are paying for those farecheats.
Of course, I'm the biggest sucker of all as I still swipe my card to pay for my ride even while dozens around me are jumping the turnstiles.
I would like to see a return to the old turnstyle that could NOT be jumped as they had floor to ceiling bars with the only way being through was by dropping a token. Of course, some kids still cheated by squeezing two through for the price of one fare. But, they still paid something.
Lastly, some of the biggest farecheaters are those coming into Manhattan from the Staten Island ferry which they just rode for free!
charles at November 6, 2019 6:08 PM
I used to be far left but then the left moved way further left and I stayed where I was.
NicoleK at November 7, 2019 1:43 AM
“Isab, please do a simple Google search "New York City reduced fare metro card"
While not everyone is eligible, such a thing does exist.”
Yes, I said I was in favor of programs like that. I did not deny, as I recall, that in some places they may already exist.
Isab at November 7, 2019 4:12 AM
Whatever happened to bench warrants?
Free to them. Not free to all.
Somebody is paying for that train to operate. Government money is not magic money, appearing out of nowhere. It's tax revenue, taken from working people somewhere.
Like those environmentalists who want only electric cars in their city, but the power plant generating the electricity with which to power them to be located somewhere else, these folks want the services, but want someone else to pay the price for them.
It's a teenager mentality, what Crid called "delayed adolescence." And, as he put it, dealing with someone else's is no picnic. Dealing with it on a mass scale like we are today is going to lead to ruin.
But they're not teenagers anymore. They're, in effect, slave-owners. They're demanding the benefit of someone else's labor. And they firmly believe they're entitled to it; not just to a part of it, but to all of it.
In this case, New Yorkers (city) are demanding that New Yorkers (state) pay for their train system. Subsequently, when New Yorkers (state) demand a say in how that train system is run (Cuomo's MTA police), these New Yorkers (city) protest that they should be allowed to run their own train system; not unlike a teenager demanding his/her parents stop telling him/her to clean his/her room - a room the teenager lives in for free in a house the parents work to pay for.
All those state funds being sunk into the NYC MTA could be spent on something else, perhaps economic revitalization efforts for Rochester or Buffalo.
Conan the Grammarian at November 7, 2019 4:38 AM
NicoleK: "...And for parents, sure, give them basic food stuff so they don't die."
A friend of mine was a deacon at his church. He told me that they had rapidly learned that when a man came and asked for money to buy food for his children, they could never, ever, give money. They would have to take the man to the store and buy him a load of groceries, then they would have to take the groceries to the man's home, put them in the refrigerator, and make sure the wife and children knew they were there. Otherwise the groceries would get sold for drugs and alcohol. Even this wasn't guaranteed to feed the kids.
iowaan at November 7, 2019 5:36 PM
Even crappy government cheese? I'm told it's very bad.
NicoleK at November 7, 2019 9:53 PM
Some government cheese was and some wasn't. My mom got that stuff when she was a kid. The big trucks would show up in the neighborhood and they'd get a big chunk of some random cheese for standing in line.
And yes, even if you give that to the drunks or the druggies they will sell it for as much as they can get or just throw it on the side of the road. You aren't helping. Hopefully you aren't contributing to littering and rat problems.
Ben at November 8, 2019 9:15 AM
"Anarchists never actually want to live in places that implement their favored policy."
If there's a policy, it's NOT anarchy.
Those who want you to doubt that anarchy (self-ownership and individual responsibility) is the best, most moral, and ethical way to live among others are asking you to accept that theft, aggression, superstition, and slavery are perhaps better.
Kent McManigal at November 16, 2019 9:03 AM
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