Taxes and the death of Eric Garner. Garner was selling loose cigarettes on the street. He was not collecting the exorbitant tax that NY imposes. The merchants who do collect these insane taxes and pay high rents complain about the unfair competition from men like Eric Garner. Garner saw it , I would guess , as a way to survive in a city and state where options are often limited for men like him . The poor and working class cant afford the price of a legal NY cigarette . In most States in the union cigarettes are less than half the price of a NY pack or carton. So the city instructs policing units like the one we see in the Garner video to enforce the tax laws. So the wealthy residents can afford to buy a $90 carton (or $100 ) but the poor arent supposed to buy loosies on the street ? The techniques used to take down Garner although taught at the police academy are flawed at best. That must be changed . No one deserves to die for selling loose cigarettes. Id bet that when these officers joined the force collecting cigarette taxes wasnt what drew them to the job. By the way there was a female police officer off camera directing and overseeing that unit .She is African-American. I dont think America has a race problem . America has a money problem , a jobs problem ,an education problem. Politicians and the news media have a race problem . They use it to fund raise and maintain power and turn good people against each other. Are there some bad individuals in society including on our police forces ? Of course. But most people just want a decent ,safe and prosperous life. Ive been tired of the division scam for decades. People are people .We want the same things. If policies arent working that is where to concentrate and focus our energies regardless of the party line. The tragedy of Officer Wilson and Michael Brown to me is this. If Wilson had his taser with him and at least one backup officer with a taser then Brown would likely still be alive. Regardless if you believe Michael Brown was a bad kid or not , a very bad person at 18 can often become a very good man at 30. Redemption is always possible ... if you live.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 16:41:13 +0000
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