[*BCM*] This is the coolest thread I've ever been a member of

[ThoM3 at aol.com]

and?
 
In a message dated 9/28/2007 3:04:38 PM Eastern Daylight Time,  
jeffyboz at gmail.com writes:

Greetings fellow listservees,
 
First of, congrats Peter!! You've really got everybody talking...   For me, 
when you characterize the event as a 'Property Crime,' I can  immediately 
identify with the perpetrator (setting aside the assault portion,  anyway.)  Add to 
that the fact that it was not my property, makes it all  the easier.  In 
fact, for those of you who haven't already seen it,  there's a remarkable film 
about this very subject: The Bicycle Thief ( Ladri di Biciclette, Vittorio de  
Sica, 1948) _http://www.filmnotes.com/articles/bicycle.html  _ 
(http://www.filmnotes.com/articles/bicycle.html) . ( That our perps were wearing uniforms and 
had burglar tools  makes me suspicious--quite the organized operation for a 
couple of crank  heads.) 
 
My high-mindedness, however, breaks down with traffic violations;  i.e., 
something that affects me directly.  With your logic, I should take  another look 
at the guy driving the garbage truck, who happens to be talking  on his cell 
phone, and making a left turn in front of me...  I  should think about how he 
was raised, perhaps in a law-of-the-jungle type  Southie neighborhood, without 
ever having considered what it was like to be a  cyclist on the streets of 
Boston, never having access to higher education,  etc.  
 
And to be honest with you, I know in my mind that you are right: I should  be 
be the bigger person.  After all, I am educated, I have a great job,  two 
beautiful daughters, great legs (thanks to biking--no offense to you  scooter 
malingerers) etc.  But, and I'm sure anybody who's ridden a bike  in this city 
for five minutes knows what I'm taking about, I feel fear,  tremendous fear, 
then anger, followed by rage, and finally hatred when that  truck turns towards 
me.  I hate that guy.  I hate everyone who's  ridden before me in this city 
that's braked because of a$$holes like  him.  The legacy of 'bigger people,'  who 
have been letting that MF  get away with it for years, has forced me to yield 
when it's my right to ride,  free from fear...  
 
I have no idea whatsoever how to resolve this conflict...
 
Regarding the criminalization of drugs--I don't think it's so much an  issue 
about who's the victim of this 'crime,' but its limiting influence on  
industrial output.  Now, I'm absolutely not qualified to talk about this  stuff, but 
as one working stiff talking to another, maybe we can flesh this  out.  Think 
about it, you're a dandy--a trust funder who  has inherited wealth from daddy, 
and like your father you run a business  and have friends that are 
politicians.  Your political friends need money  to get elected to office, lots of 
money, so that puts you in a nice spot:  Explicit, or otherwise, you have a say in 
how policies (laws) are  written.  Now, of course, you're also proud--you 
don't want to be the one  who wastes the family fortune--you want to expand it!!  
You're a  capitalist!!  And, having workers that are drugged-out just won't  
do.  But, at the same time, you don't want them to be too frisky  (starting 
rebellions, unions, and crap)--thank God for t.v.  Not only  does this keep folks 
occupied when they're not at work, but it also gives them  a reason to come 
back to work tomorrow--THEY NEED MORE MONEY TO BUY CRAP THEY  SAW ADVERTISED ON 
T.V.!!!
 
Thanks,
 
Jeff
 
P.S. I'm going to my first CM tonight.  So, if you notice a guy with  a trek 
520 touring bike, who looks like a Richie Cunningham dork--be nice, I'm  a 
punk on the inside!!
 



 



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