Althouse: "The power to require permits is the power to prevent something from ever existing."

February 20, 2015

"The power to require permits is the power to prevent something from ever existing."

"This lovely movement would've never begun or spread if everyone who wanted to build a Little Free Library recognized a need to apply and pay for a permit. Instead they did good and asked permission never."

21 comments:

Meade said...: When little free libraries are outlawed only outlaws have little free libraries.; 2/20/15, 5:54 PM
traditionalguy said...: That is job creation Obama style. A new Federal Department to Regulate Free Libraries complete with its own SWAT team that naturally needs 20,000,000 rounds of 40cal. anti personal ammo.; 2/20/15, 5:59 PM
Revenant said...: You forgot to add "... for the children", tguy.; 2/20/15, 6:08 PM
Anonymous said...: "The power to require permits is the power to prevent something from ever existing."

Exactly.

In another thread people were defending Scott Walker's unconstitutional regulations which required a permit if more than four people wanted to gather at the State Capitol. One conservative even said Walker didn't go far enough.

There is no doubt at all what their intentions in requiring a permit actually are - it is all about trying to prevent it from happening.; 2/20/15, 6:21 PM
Rusty said...: OMG madisonfella actually learned something.; 2/20/15, 7:03 PM
n.n said...: Excessive regulation favors people with leverage.; 2/20/15, 7:24 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: We have those in my neighborhood. Amusingly there is a box about a block from our local library branch. I can't imagine any municipal authority giving people a hard time for them, although around here they're mostly in people's front yards/the edge of their own property (as opposed to the city's strip of land next to the sidewalk).; 2/20/15, 9:01 PM
kcom said...: Someone around here tried a "Little Free Pharmacy" experiment. But "take a condom, leave a condom" didn't work out so well.; 2/20/15, 9:19 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I looked in one of those little libraries at the park once. All the books in it looked terrible. I imagine that over time without intervention they're all filled with terrible books.; 2/21/15, 12:01 AM
pst314 said...: Let's find out where madisonfella lives and works, and send people every day to make so much noise that he cannot get any work done. Then maybe he will discover to his surprise that Walker had a point.; 2/21/15, 8:44 AM
Anonymous said...: Let's find out where madisonfella lives and works, and send people every day to make so much noise that he cannot get any work done

Exactly what work did not get done due to the Solidarity Sing A Long? Please be specific.; 2/21/15, 8:48 AM
Anonymous said...: And was that work also prevented from being done when the Walker Supporters held their Sing A Long in the Capitol as well?; 2/21/15, 8:49 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: Just finished the CF essay (via Memeorandom) before coming here; I drive by one of these LFLs two or four time a week and hadn't realized there was a .org to go with it.

Am going to stop today and donate a book and see how 'terrible' (Freeman Hunt) the selection is. :-); 2/21/15, 9:04 AM
Roger Sweeny said...: I used to imagine the Grateful Dead applying for a permit from the Commisar of Cultural Affairs. Long story short: they couldn't get one--and were "prevent[ed] ... from ever existing."; 2/21/15, 9:39 AM
Paco Wové said...: We have two LFL's within easy walking distance here in our little Midwestern college town. I can confirm the general crappiness of the books therein. We've occasionally thought about slowly infiltrating them with cheap paperbacks matching our crazed ideological viewpoint, but laziness has prevented action so far.; 2/21/15, 10:06 AM
Rusty said...: Freeman Hunt said...
I looked in one of those little libraries at the park once. All the books in it looked terrible. I imagine that over time without intervention they're all filled with terrible books.

Everything that is offered as free eventually devolves into shit. But is suspect you already know this.; 2/21/15, 10:22 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: The light of the Sun is offered 'freely', the air we breathe, the music of the birds-- all sorts of goods are 'free'. Am going to be very disappointed this afternoon when I check out the LFL if I find only copies of 50 Shades of Grey and Stories of My Father or whatever it's called.; 2/21/15, 11:45 AM
ken in tx said...: There is one in my neighborhood and I use it. I added one of my books to increase its quality. I notice it has a registration number on it, so I suspect Austin--part of the NPR archipelago--already regulates them.; 2/21/15, 2:06 PM
pst314 said...: So the Walker people had ONE sing-along to counter the leftist protesters, but the leftists were there DAY AFTER DAY, creating as much noise as they could.

But regardless, the news item in question is about little free library boxes that are no problem for anyone. If the boxes had loudspeakers broadcasting loud noise all day long, like the leftist protesters, there would be a parallel between the library boxes and the capitol protests. But there is not, and madisonfella is pathetically mistaken in trying to make such a comparison.; 2/21/15, 6:10 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: I forgot to stop and browse. Tomorrow.; 2/21/15, 8:03 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: Did finally stop and look. Childrens and young adults books, several novels of the espionage/thriller genre, a few non-fiction books (someone was very done with-- three titles-- Bob Woodward). Nothing I want to read but certainly not the remainder tables, and all in good condition. It's a residential area but the 'library building' is located on the property of... the Grange? and so presumably this was done with their cooperation.; 2/22/15, 8:53 PM