Arresting Americans for having a brown lawn

[sparky241]

this crap is completely out of hand

 

[Prometheus]

The stories are trying to make this about people being arrested for having brown grass, but the reality is that they were arrested for other things.

No, they didn't get arrested for having brown grass. They got arrested for refusing to take action after being ordered to deal with their brown grass.

A distinction without a difference.

Exactly Dross.

Would the cops have been there if not for the brown grass? Answer: No.

jsharmon you can try and parse it however you'd like but that is the truth.

 

[rooster007]

Brawndo. It's got what plants crave.

+ 1 Great quote from a great movie . It may be a little extreme but its not to far from the truth

 

[jsharmon7]

Exactly Dross.

Would the cops have been there if not for the brown grass? Answer: No.

jsharmon you can try and parse it however you'd like but that is the truth.

Would the people have been arrested had they not ignored the court in one case and escalated the situation in another? Answer: No. It's called taking responsibility for your actions.

If I get stopped for speeding, jump out of the car, go nuts on the side of the road, and end up getting myself arrested, am I being arrested for speeding? Absolutely not. This is the argument you're making. Well the cop wouldn't have been there if I wasn't speeding, so obviously I'm being arrested for speeding.

The ordinance is stupid, but that's not why anyone got arrested. It's always the same few people on this site who refuse to look at a situation as anything other than "government is evil."

 

[Kirk Freeman]

The ordinance is stupid

Cannot it be argued that the ordinance protects the property rights of the neighbors? Is this not the proper role of government, to protect my rights?

Letting your property turn to a ball of putrid filth is not very usufruct.

 

[JetGirl]

well she learned her lesson, do what big brother says or big brother will f' you up.

 

[hornadylnl]

Cannot it be argued that the ordinance protects the property rights of the neighbors? Is this not the proper role of government, to protect my rights?

Letting your property turn to a ball of putrid filth is not very usufruct.

So your right to see green lawns around you is greater than my right to my own property? I guess we should have to show a permit to the local hardware store that designates what color and what quantity of paint we can buy to paint our houses. The permit has to be in triplicate and issued by your local neighborhood magistrate with signatures from every adjoining property owner saying they approve.

 

[jsharmon7]

Cannot it be argued that the ordinance protects the property rights of the neighbors? Is this not the proper role of government, to protect my rights?

Letting your property turn to a ball of putrid filth is not very usufruct.

Kirk, I hadn't really thought of it that way and I think you have a point. If my neighbor lets his house fall apart and leaves rusted hulks of cars all over the place, my property value drops. If I can't get anyone to buy my house or offer me a reasonable amount for it because of trash neighbors then it most certainly has affected me. My only issue with that is how we would measure that.

 

[JetGirl]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to hornadylnl again.

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[Kirk Freeman]

So your right to see green lawns around you is greater than my right to my own property?

Do I not have a right to the value of my property?

Is not the ball of putrid filth next door damaging/stealing my right to the value of my property?

Is this not a legitimate function of government, to enforce my property rights? Is this not why we have government?

 

[hornadylnl]

Kirk, I hadn't really thought of it that way and I think you have a point. If my neighbor lets his house fall apart and leaves rusted hulks of cars all over the place, my property value drops. If I can't get anyone to buy my house or offer me a reasonable amount for it because of trash neighbors then it most certainly has affected me. My only issue with that is how we would measure that.

Some loser bureaucrat with many useless degrees will pull out his White Trash Meter and get a reading. He will then bill said white trash accordingly.

I don't like to live next to white trash either. But today's undesirable white trash can be tomorrow's gardener or private gun range owner. I've lived next to white trash and I moved away, not asked for some nanny stater to take care of my business either. I'm currently trying to sell my old house and yes, I know that the surroundings are bringing my property value down and making it more difficult to sell. But I was also able to get more house for less money when I bought that house. I had to look at this mess for several months before it finally got cleaned up. It used to be a house trailer that was torn down and left there. I didn't complain to the owner or the county until their debris was blowing in my yard almost daily.

Is a government that is big enough to regulate the exterior of your home big enough to regulate the interior? Why, you could have bed bugs, cockroaches, mice, rats, termites, etc. that could affect my property. I will send the jackboots to inspect your entire home tomorrow.

 

[hornadylnl]

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Thanks, it's the thought that counts!

 

[jsharmon7]

Is a government that is big enough to regulate the exterior of your home big enough to regulate the interior? Why, you could have bed bugs, cockroaches, mice, rats, termites, etc. that could affect my property. I will send the jackboots to inspect your entire home tomorrow.

It already happens, it's called the county health department.

 

[Lobo]

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[rambone]

I just wish we could talk about current events close to home, not 2 year old stories from Florida.

Ok then. Don't post threads about Afghanistan or military hiring practices. It doesn't really matter to the sheep grazing here in Indiana, with their blinders on.

If anybody on INGO already knew grass color was a criminal offense, please raise your hand. It was news to me. I believe that "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Would the people have been arrested had they not ignored the court in one case and escalated the situation in another? Answer: No. It's called taking responsibility for your actions.

In this type of situation we are discussing the "responsibility" for your inactions. They are arresting people for NOT doing stuff. Both these stories were about very poor elderly people. They don't always have the resources to just drop hundreds or thousands of dollars to re-sod their lawn. That is why it is wrong and immoral for imprisoning people for staying home and "not doing something."

It also cracks me up that people think that having a yard that looks like the natural state of the land is a criminal offense. That one story comes from UTAH. Its an ARID climate.

Do I not have a right to the value of my property?

Is not the ball of putrid filth next door damaging/stealing my right to the value of my property?

Is this not a legitimate function of government, to enforce my property rights? Is this not why we have government?

Resale value is not the same thing as "property rights." An example of the government's roll in protecting property rights is to enforce laws of sale, trespass, theft, etc. What you are suggesting is that one person's resale value is more important than the neighbor's actual property rights.

We have discussed here on INGO the idea of people being imprisoned for having long grass, and some have made the claim that long grass causes rats to invade the neighborhood. Can anyone make the same claim about grass that is brown? How far are we willing to stretch our imaginations in order to justify bossing a person around?

 

[hornadylnl]

How far are we willing to stretch our imaginations in order to justify bossing a person around?

Silly Putty ain't got nothin on some here.

 

[Lobo]

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[RichardR]

I am fairly certain the folks defending these arrests would probably feel differently if they were the ones on the receiving end of this sort of treatment.

 

[rambone]

I am fairly certain the folks defending these arrests would probably feel differently if they were the ones on the receiving end of this sort of treatment.

Says the guy who has a brown lawn..

Tell it to the judge, citizen!! Ooh Rah!!

 

[Lobo]

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