Are many of the positive foundational, community experiences getting squashed by our repressive, over-controlling government?
- Lemonade stands aren't up to food service code, CLOSED!
- Someone's feeding the homeless, ARRESTED!
- Water balloon fights? There's not enough water, FINED!
- Little Free Libraries? Litigious Hazard, ILLEGAL!
Wait, what? I dig those Little Free Libraries, what gives?
I just read Tom Knighton's piece "Big Government Cracks Down On ... People Sharing Books"
The gist of the imposition and the larger civic & cultural issues are summed up here:
As Conor Friedersdorf wrote about the issue:
"This is what conservatives and libertarians mean when they talk about over-regulation disincentivizing or displacing voluntary activity that benefits people. We've constructed communities where one must obtain prior permission from agents of the state before freely sharing books with one's neighbors! And their proposed solution is to get scarce public art funds to pay for the needless layer of bureaucracy being imposed on the thing already being done for free."
He's right. This is beyond ridiculous, yet it's happening.
They're probably spreading dissent anyways,
the evil little boxes
To many of us, I'll bet this sort of thing is nothing new. It's a familiar trope. However, depending upon what you read, it doesn't always go pear shaped. Some municipalities are embracing the "dead-tree edition revival" efforts and Shreveport Louisiana knows how to party: "Little Free Libraries now legal"
This must be Frank Lloyd Wright's Little Free Library
So maybe there's hope yet for all of those "good" things we experienced when we were young as well as the new traditions ... Oh wait, maybe I spoke too soon?
"Having written previously about crackdowns on parkway vegetable gardens, I knew the city's argument is that you can't do anything that might block emergency vehicle access, obstruct motorists' views, impede pedestrians or make it hard to open car doors. But the Tenn-Mann Library, at the intersection of a four-way stop, does none of those things. And I can't help but point out that a city tree in front of Cook's house, on the parkway strip, has untamed roots that have lifted the sidewalk a few inches, posing a clear and obvious obstruction and tripping hazard. The city pays out millions of dollars in trip-and-fall settlements every year, and last time I checked, tree-trimming was on a 45-year cycle—no joke. But put up a lending library and the city is at your door in a jiffy."
-Steve Lopez - Los Angeles Times
Whether your cup is empty, or your cup be full, if you see one of these little libraries, I recommend checking it out. Some people curate their boxes and it can be humorous to see all romance novels, all Tom Clancy's, or all insert whatever genre. I get an interesting satisfaction when leaving well used paperbacks of some of my favorite reads. Try it, you might like it. And hey, if you hear about a kerfluffle, maybe you can make your voice heard in support of cool things like the little free library. I'd rather ding my car door on one than live in a sterile society.
