ANTI-CARISM AND THE RULE OF MISLAW

As a devoted chaser of vehicles which are probative ventures in professional endowment, I have come to resent the increasingly hostile attitude toward automobiles. This attitude is fostered by government.

All drivers are aware of the extensive red-tape associated with possession and usage of any form of road vehicle. The expression "DMV" has become a stock element in comedic commentary. True, it can't compete with "sex" and, therefore, doesn't come up as often in the jokes, but the main issue is that all know this means frustratingly long lines and waits.

Politicians in government have for a long time worked hand-in-glove with property owners to make the parking of one's vehicle either lucrative for the companies specializing in renting space by the hour, day, week, or month, or lucrative for the city by means of parking tickets revenue. By being generous campaign supporters parking lot companies (and their owners) can count on a protected racket. The politicians create and protect SCARCITY.

There are never enough parking spots allocated by the city relative to the demand. Metered spots are eagerly sought by short-term visitors in cars. Sometimes disputes erupt as two drivers seek to park in the same spot--one frontward and the other backward. These spots are valued, but they do not necessarily protect a driver from a ticket. On occasion the meter is broken. The driver assumes the hordes of "meter people" out checking for violations will note that a meter is broken and spare the car. However, a driver may get a ticket anyway. One theory for this is that the "meter people" have job performance parameters based on quantities of vehicles ticketed. They are threatened with "ticket or perish."

According to this theory, the politicians have concluded that hardly anyone will take a day off from work, losing all that money, to sit around a government building waiting to plea a defense against the issuance of the ticket. Indeed, who would, as you are still likely to lose the case. A magistrate may diminish it a bit, but for such "mercy" is it worth losing a day's working income?

Few think so.

Therefore, theoreticians conclude that it is a strategy that should bring in some desired revenue, which the politicians may then spend wisely or unwisely. It seems to be a "win-win" strategy for them. Parking tickets are a disguised tax.