“I’m not doing this. Enough is enough. Leave me alone. Period. I’m not doing this. Fine me if you want. I don’t care. Catch the car thieves and check-washers first.”
—-New York Times commenter “George the Atheist” responding to an article about New York City’s new mandatory food waste composting law.
God bless George. This is classic American civil disobedience, and nothing demands it more than useless and futile anti-climate change virtue signalling burdening citizens who have real problems to worry about. Big Brother thinks it is entitled to just keep piling more and more obligations, expenses duties, routines and annoyances on citizens, and will keep doing so, ratcheting up the basic burdens and expense of daily life in the process, until sufficient numbers of people stand their ground, say “No,” and reverse this toxic trend.
Sadly, there aren’t enough Georges in Democratic-run cities and states, not nearly enough. This is why one has to avoid piles of human fecal matter in San Francisco, and watch shop-lifers operate without fear in most major cities, and why so many woke school boards continue to program ideological indoctrination in the public schools. It’s also why I still see young people, not just elders who might (but probably don’t) have a valid reason other than being fearful Democrats, wearing masks while riding bicycles, jogging alone and driving solo in their own car. Most people—even most Americans, who live in an embedded (but weakening) culture that emphasizes suspicion of authority and reverence for personal liberty—are inclined to just knuckle under to the abuse of power, because they lack the integrity, courage and certitude to say “No.” They are weenies. Those who wield power rely on them.
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Pointer: Althouse
Ethics Alarms 
“Sadly, there aren’t enough Georges in Democratic-run cities and states, not nearly enough.”
The latest research strongly suggests that being a weenie is embedded within dems DNA via cellular mutation. Researchers were surprised to learn the mutation has increasingly crossed over to more conservative thinking individuals and is most conspicuous in the halls of congress. This is a rather disturbing trend because heavy imbalance within an ecosystem usually results in poor outcomes that are not infrequently catastrophic.
Science! I believe in science!
Very funny. I wish I had written your comment.
Next: mandatory attendance at yoga classes. Citizens will also be required to carry large water bottles at all times so they can hydrate at all times.
And speaking of ridiculous things coming out of New York City, there’s the ever-entertaining DeBlasio family back in the news: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12267553/Beaming-Chirlane-McCray-gives-solo-interview-announcing-split-ex-NYC-Mayor-Bill-Blasio.html
And of course, the love birds aren’t getting a divorce, they’ll just be having an “open marriage.” Cool.
So, so, so fucked up. They love each other but they don’t want to be intimate with each other. And they don’t want to be together. Conscious uncoupling. An amicable divorce. No one’s feelings are hurt. Yeah. Sure. It must be absolutely amazing to be perfect in every regards. Insufferable jerks.
And while we’re on the subject of perfect people who are our betters, how about this guy? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12266605/Furious-mom-22-year-old-man-gunned-Philly-rampage-demands-shooter-jailed-life.html “The cross-dressing Black Lives Matter supporter who made chilling Facebook posts about ‘evil spirits’ and ‘black massacres'” I bet you won’t see this suspect described in any of the usual media outlets. He is simply described as carrying an AR-15 style rifle (and a pistol) and wearing a vest. You know, like your standard issue white supremacist. If they do talk about this guy in any detail, I hope they use his preferred pronouns. This guy should be the winner of the wonderful people trifecta! He’s black, he’s trans gender, he’s woke and he’s mentally ill. This guy should be on The View, not in jail. And why isn’t he being released on his own recognizance or minimal bail? Crickets all around.
Wait? I have to do yoga? Do you realize my body never, ever bent in those ways. It would be life-threatening and soul-crushing for me to have to do that, not to mention seeing me in yoga pants would probably constitute a crime against humanity.
jvb
Jack,
“Big Brother thinks it is entitled to just keep piling more and more obligations, expenses duties, routines and annoyances on citizens, and will keep doing so, ratcheting up the basic burdens and expense of daily life in the process, until sufficient numbers of people stand their ground, say “No,” and reverse this toxic trend.”
Small point: but city dumps are managed by local municipal or county authorities, as are the trucks that service them. Wouldn’t that give local government some authority to regulate the types of trash they’ll accept and how it’s pre-sorted? Imagine ole’ George making the same claim about radioactive ore from his uranium mine or human remains from his funeral home (in fact, didn’t you once write about Planned Parenthood disposing of fetuses that way?). Do the same rules apply?
Whatever the case, this is a local city bureaucracy. not “big brother”, unless you suggest this should ALL be in private hands?
The government is Big Brother. I don’t see the distinction you are trying to make. “Do this, or else, because we said so…prole!”
It would be a nice thing for a small town to offer a community compost site at the town dump.
It would be bureaucratic pettiness for the five selectman of a town of 200 to pass an ordinance requiring residents to compost.
It is straight big-btother when the 300,000-strong bureaucracy that is the NYC civil service enforces mandatory composting.
Jack,
Call them whatever you want, but that’s non-responsive to my point. If a municipality manages the dump, the trucks, and the people who pick up trash, why is it over-reach for them to require pre-sorting? We give state and local governments the ability to set speed-limits and traffic lights on public roads, how is this different?
Lastly, isn’t “or else” the implied threat of almost any law with prescribed punishment?
I still don’t see your point. Yeah, we give governments power, that’s necessary. It’s government’s duty not to abuse that power, like the Tax man who wanders around in “Popeye” taxing everything. Making a law with a penalty to force citizens to engage in a pointless, time-consuming task without demonstrable benefits is oppressive and the reason Jefferson believed that governments should be minimal. That horse has left the barn, but the way citizens fight oppressive government is by making the laws that are oppressive impossible to enforce. (By teh way, the 55 mph speed limit isn’t enforced. Nobody is ticked for going 56, 57, 58, 59, or 60…because the law would be oppressive.