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It's the quest for "safety" - it got so much media attention what with all the terrorist threats and attacks (which existed long before 9/11), that it has been

It's the quest for "safety" - it got so much media attention what with all the terrorist threats and attacks (which existed long before 9/11), that it has been engrained in the minds of people as "safety and security at all costs" and has extended to most parts of life, not just external threats to the country (which is understandable, since most Americans never see any real terrorism but know that they have to fear it and protect themselves, so they find something else to protect themselves against).

noonespecial 15y ago
All that is true. But I don't think that's it alone. The core of the problem is that there are public officials, "public servants" as they try to call themselves, that come to work and say "Gee what am I going to do today? I know I'll go harass some little girls. Yeah, they're breaking the rules, after all. Good job! Go me!" and are completely ok with it. Its not even so bad that they are ok with it. There have always been rotten apples. Its that (despite the small outrage), everyone else has just sort of become numb to this kind of ass-hattery. Try to imagine what would have happened in Mayberry in 1960 if the code enforcement office pulled something like this. I believe nearly everyone at the office would have instantly found themselves looking for a new line of work. It quite likely would have been difficult for them to even continue living in that area. The whole idea of putting a human being at that post was to avoid this machine-like enforcement without discretion. There's some kind of deep intractable cynicism that's changing the worldview of the United States (probably the whole "western world" to a lesser extent). Its more than just fear-"save me from the terrorists!", it has a raw edge of hopelessness to it that has never been present in the USA before.
- anigbrowl 15y ago
  The core of the problem is that there are public officials, "public servants" as they try to call themselves, that come to work and say "Gee what am I going to do today? I know I'll go harass some little girls. Yeah, they're breaking the rules, after all. Good job! Go me!" and are completely ok with it. Not so. A lot of times, in fact probably the majority, they are responding to complaints from other vendors. This is especially true at events; vendors pay a lot of money (often a few thousand a day, paid months in advance) to the organizers for the right to set up a food or refreshment stall, and are subject to safety inspections themselves. So they object to anyone else coming along and doing the same thing for free, even if they're only selling small amounts. Event vendors live on fairly thin margins; since they're transient they can't count on repeat business of any kind. If it's a kid that's cute, but if the kid is selling commercial beverages rather than home-made lemonade (as shown in the photo accompanying the article), then professional retailers see that as a front for the parent who is buying the stuff in bulk at Costco. Having worked as an organizer on a few musical festivals, I regret to say that they're sometimes correct about this.

noonespecial 15y ago

All that is true. But I don't think that's it alone. The core of the problem is that there are public officials, "public servants" as they try to call themselves, that come to work and say "Gee what am I going to do today? I know I'll go harass some little girls. Yeah, they're breaking the rules, after all. Good job! Go me!" and are completely ok with it. Its not even so bad that they are ok with it. There have always been rotten apples. Its that (despite the small outrage), everyone else has just sort of become numb to this kind of ass-hattery. Try to imagine what would have happened in Mayberry in 1960 if the code enforcement office pulled something like this. I believe nearly everyone at the office would have instantly found themselves looking for a new line of work. It quite likely would have been difficult for them to even continue living in that area. The whole idea of putting a human being at that post was to avoid this machine-like enforcement without discretion. There's some kind of deep intractable cynicism that's changing the worldview of the United States (probably the whole "western world" to a lesser extent). Its more than just fear-"save me from the terrorists!", it has a raw edge of hopelessness to it that has never been present in the USA before.

anigbrowl 15y ago
The core of the problem is that there are public officials, "public servants" as they try to call themselves, that come to work and say "Gee what am I going to do today? I know I'll go harass some little girls. Yeah, they're breaking the rules, after all. Good job! Go me!" and are completely ok with it. Not so. A lot of times, in fact probably the majority, they are responding to complaints from other vendors. This is especially true at events; vendors pay a lot of money (often a few thousand a day, paid months in advance) to the organizers for the right to set up a food or refreshment stall, and are subject to safety inspections themselves. So they object to anyone else coming along and doing the same thing for free, even if they're only selling small amounts. Event vendors live on fairly thin margins; since they're transient they can't count on repeat business of any kind. If it's a kid that's cute, but if the kid is selling commercial beverages rather than home-made lemonade (as shown in the photo accompanying the article), then professional retailers see that as a front for the parent who is buying the stuff in bulk at Costco. Having worked as an organizer on a few musical festivals, I regret to say that they're sometimes correct about this.