Jonas Parker
Hooligan
A Modest Proposal
Watching major cities like Portland, Seattle, New York, Chicago, and Louisville (where I was born and still have family) get battered by rioters under the guise of “peaceful protesters”, I keep wondering who gets to pick up the bill for the “peaceful protesters’” two-plus month-long inter-city and inter-state crime spree?
How about the mother of the three-year-old girl that was shot and killed? Or the grieving father of the now-dead one-year-old boy? Are the “peaceful protesters” paying for the funerals? The police perhaps could have stopped these two murders if they hadn't been occupied elsewhere.
Who gets to pay the bill for the taxpayer-owned statues that were destroyed? For getting the spray-painted obscenities off of publicly-owned monuments and buildings. After this “peaceful protesting” is over, will the protesters be out with brushes and soap and water scrubbing the spray paint off?
And then there are the businesses destroyed. Some, I’m sure, were under-insured or even uninsured. Who will compensate the business owners? The protesters?
And who will pay back the costs of police overtime pay and trashed police cars? Those responsible?
You know the answers to these questions: the grieving parents, the business owners (who will see their insurance premiums sky-rocket), and most of all, the ever-patient American taxpayer - you and me!
But I have a “modest proposal” (to steal a line from Jonathan Swift). What if these “peaceful protesters” get arrested and somehow get convicted of committing a crime – rioting and vandalism? What if the court seizes every asset they have? If the protester is underage, the court seizes every dime that his or her parents have too? What if the “protesters” are given scrub brushes, soap, and water and put to work scrubbing, or cleaning, or rebuilding. In other words, what if these “protesters” are held completely responsible for their actions. What if they can look forward to a lifetime of poverty where every dime they make goes to right the damage that they’ve done? Every weekend is spent scrubbing paint? In other words, why don’t we hold these people, as well as those funding them accountable for their actions?
“Peaceful demonstrations” would become a lot more peaceful and a lot less popular for participants.
But this will never happen. Pity!
Watching major cities like Portland, Seattle, New York, Chicago, and Louisville (where I was born and still have family) get battered by rioters under the guise of “peaceful protesters”, I keep wondering who gets to pick up the bill for the “peaceful protesters’” two-plus month-long inter-city and inter-state crime spree?
How about the mother of the three-year-old girl that was shot and killed? Or the grieving father of the now-dead one-year-old boy? Are the “peaceful protesters” paying for the funerals? The police perhaps could have stopped these two murders if they hadn't been occupied elsewhere.
Who gets to pay the bill for the taxpayer-owned statues that were destroyed? For getting the spray-painted obscenities off of publicly-owned monuments and buildings. After this “peaceful protesting” is over, will the protesters be out with brushes and soap and water scrubbing the spray paint off?
And then there are the businesses destroyed. Some, I’m sure, were under-insured or even uninsured. Who will compensate the business owners? The protesters?
And who will pay back the costs of police overtime pay and trashed police cars? Those responsible?
You know the answers to these questions: the grieving parents, the business owners (who will see their insurance premiums sky-rocket), and most of all, the ever-patient American taxpayer - you and me!
But I have a “modest proposal” (to steal a line from Jonathan Swift). What if these “peaceful protesters” get arrested and somehow get convicted of committing a crime – rioting and vandalism? What if the court seizes every asset they have? If the protester is underage, the court seizes every dime that his or her parents have too? What if the “protesters” are given scrub brushes, soap, and water and put to work scrubbing, or cleaning, or rebuilding. In other words, what if these “protesters” are held completely responsible for their actions. What if they can look forward to a lifetime of poverty where every dime they make goes to right the damage that they’ve done? Every weekend is spent scrubbing paint? In other words, why don’t we hold these people, as well as those funding them accountable for their actions?
“Peaceful demonstrations” would become a lot more peaceful and a lot less popular for participants.
But this will never happen. Pity!
