Eric Garner: No lessons learned
Give peaceful commerce a chance.
Reuters reports that the New York City police officer who choked loose-cigarette dealer Eric Garner to death will not be charged with a federal crime. Previously, a grand jury had refused to indict him under state law.
Admittedly, I was unaware there was still a federal investigation. But the announcement will undoubtedly cause outrage: why can’t black victims of cop abuse get justice? (The same might be fairly asked of any victim of cop abuse.)
My thinking is, if we can’t get justice after an abusive cop event, we can at least reduce the frequency of cop abuse, by giving them fewer laws to enforce. Although I haven’t followed the story closely, few people seem to question whether Garner’s business should’ve been illegal in the first place; they just object to excessive force against him.
But to ban the selling of loose cigarettes is to declare war on peaceful commerce. And if the House gets its way and the federal minimum wage is raised, we will see more of this war.
Obviously, the minimum wage is itself a war on peaceful commerce, because it’s nobody else’s business, and certainly not the business of politicians, to meddle in payments A and B have agreed to. But let’s put that aside for a moment.
If the government raises the price of a product, say, a loaf of bread, people who previously could afford bread no longer can. There will be a surplus of bread that goes to waste. Likewise, if the government raises wages, businesses owners who previously could afford to hire labor no longer can, and there will be a surplus of laborers.
What will happen to them?
They’ll likely get public assistance of various kinds. But also, the circumstances will encourage them to earn money in the unlicensed, untaxed shadow economy.
Even if the goods and services they provide aren’t illegal in themselves, they’re made illegal by the lack of paperwork and taxes.
And that can lead to nosy neighbors calling the police, or police spotting and inquiring into “suspicious” activity themselves. Minorities, who are more likely to be displaced out of the job market, will become police targets.
Some of that police contact will get out of hand, and police may panic or become abusive. And when an incident becomes a national headline, we’ll again wonder how we can “reform” police departments so they’ll be less racist in practice.
But what needs to be reformed, first of all, are the laws themselves.
Get rid of victimless crime laws, such as selling loose cigarettes. Stop harassing people for selling stuff on the street without a license.
Stop endangering lives on the road with chases and stops on busy streets to enforce traffic and vehicle laws that do nothing but raise revenue for The State.
Get rid of the drug laws. and gun laws. They were enacted in the first place with racist intent. Using a drug or possessing a firearm does not victimize anybody else.
And get rid of the Drug War-induced asset forfeiture laws in which innocent people see their cash, cars, or even homes taken from them without so much as being charged with a crime.
As it stands now, the police are REWARDED for harassing people, and they’ll racially profile NOT because blacks and other minorities are more likely to be criminals, but because they’re more likely to be poor and have fewer resources to fight back with competent legal counsel.
If we repeal victimless laws that punish peaceful commerce, the police will have fewer incentives to abuse.
This essay adapts material written in blog posts from 2016 at Independent Country.
James Leroy Wilson writes from Nebraska. He is the author of Ron Paul is a Nut (And So am I). Follow him on Facebook and Twitter. Support through Paypal is greatly appreciated. Permission to reprint is granted with attribution.
