The Trash Police
Forget the military draft. Pittsburgh's government has already got its captive citizens hard at work. Unless residents of that city do government-mandated work, they are fined. (Whips are so 20th century.)
The work in question is sorting trash in the service of making money for the city's recycling program. It turns out the city cannot make money on its recycling biz unless it forces residents to recycle and sort garbage into neat, market-ready categories.
Thus far about 100 citations for $62.50 each have been levied. A second refusal to work for the state brings with it a $500 fine, a hefty punishment that city officials are understandably reluctant to use. But coercing citizens into supporting a city's economically unsustainable business venture is vile on its own terms.
more at http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/08/07...s.ap/index.html
Forget the military draft. Pittsburgh's government has already got its captive citizens hard at work. Unless residents of that city do government-mandated work, they are fined. (Whips are so 20th century.)
The work in question is sorting trash in the service of making money for the city's recycling program. It turns out the city cannot make money on its recycling biz unless it forces residents to recycle and sort garbage into neat, market-ready categories.
Thus far about 100 citations for $62.50 each have been levied. A second refusal to work for the state brings with it a $500 fine, a hefty punishment that city officials are understandably reluctant to use. But coercing citizens into supporting a city's economically unsustainable business venture is vile on its own terms.
more at http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/08/07...s.ap/index.html
