Peter Schmitz asks me: > David writes: I actually think punishment has resulted in fewer > incidents. > > If this is actually the case, David, do you think Senator Berglin's bill > is still necessary? Do you think incidents of graffiti will drop further > once the state goes after parents of taggers, especially parents who are > living below federal poverty guidelines?
Sorry I didn't state my position in the original post. If what I've read here about Sen. Berglin's bill is true, it's a very bad idea. I don't think penalizing parents for their children's actions will work, and I don't think it's fair, since there are many reasons kids do bad things. I also want to briefly respond to David Shove: Those who argue that graffiti should be tolerated because billboards are subscribe to the "eye for an eye" ethos (literally), that I think comes up short. There are many of us who hate billboards AND graffiti - maximizing visual pollution is a really counterproductive idea. I could see a shred of morality for this argument if taggers limited their defacement to ads. But they don't. Ask the owners of the historic sandstone It's Greek To Me" building, who had to pay thousands to remove a tag from the top of their builiding - I watched as chunks of sandstone came raining down from the necessary powerwashing. Or the folks in Lyndale, who paid for neighborhood welcome signs in multiple languages, only to have them defaced by fans of the band Wookie Foot bearing bumperstickers. It's easy (and often correct) to reflexively side with the powerless over the powerful. But there are many victims here who don't really qualify as the latter, and don't want to be caught in the visual crossfire. David Brauer King Field TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
