Don't do business in the street Share This:





Alas, the man is appealing to government agents against whom reason is impotent. As Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense, â€œIt is as useless to argue with those who have abandoned the use of reason as it is to administer medicine to the dead.â€ The government wants money and no argument, however valid, will stand between its grubbing fingers and a wallet.



There is a lesson here. In the most literal sense of the words, Abrahams (and the rest of us) should never do business in the streets; more generally stated, never do business in a more public manner than is absolutely necessary. Being public about your economic transactions is akin to staggering into a bar with $100 bills bulging out of your pockets; the government thugs, no less than the barroom ones, will mark you as an easy target. Government everywhere and on all levels are looking for ways to roll you like a hapless drunk, which means it is time for us all to sober up and be more careful.



What constitutes 'being sober' in this context? -- Being private. (For more info on preserving your privacy, click on links in the tool bar and scroll down to the category "Civil Liberties." Eventually, there'll be a drop down menu for the categories...but the section is a project in process)



Ask yourself: how can I make my transactions -- even just one transaction -- more private? Some of the options are... Use cash as much as possible. Refuse to fill in blanks on forms, pleading a fear of identity theft. Use social networks to advertise rather than newspapers. Go through an anonymizer when doing online business. Use anonymous debit cards rather than a credit card. Never answer financial questions over the phone. For that matter, never answer financial questions. Barter when possible. Don't give the appearance of wealth or brag. Don't be that drunk in the bar. Back to category overview Back to news overview Older News Newer News



Printer Friendly Wendy McElroy - Tuesday 01 July 2008 - 08:49:50 - Permalink A headline from the UK Daily Mail (06/30): Grandfather with 'For Sale' sign in car window given Â£100 fine for running street business. Victor Abrahams put a 'for sale' sign on his Ford Escort and, then, went about his daily life. Unhappily, he works and, so, parks his car in the town of Barnett where it is illegal to do business in a parking place, however legally parked a car may otherwise be. Abrahams has appealed the fine and will undoubtedly attempt to reason his way out of paying. As he stated to the press, "Why is the for-sale sign in my car window any different from a delivery van with the name and phone number of the company on the side? Or why is it different from a driving instructor's car that has the name and details of the driving school on the side? Surely if I'm offering goods for sale, so are they."Alas, the man is appealing to government agents against whom reason is impotent. As Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense, â€œIt is as useless to argue with those who have abandoned the use of reason as it is to administer medicine to the dead.â€ The government wants money and no argument, however valid, will stand between its grubbing fingers and a wallet.There is a lesson here. In the most literal sense of the words, Abrahams (and the rest of us) should never do business in the streets; more generally stated, never do business in a more public manner than is absolutely necessary. Being public about your economic transactions is akin to staggering into a bar with $100 bills bulging out of your pockets; the government thugs, no less than the barroom ones, will mark you as an easy target. Government everywhere and on all levels are looking for ways to roll you like a hapless drunk, which means it is time for us all to sober up and be more careful.What constitutes 'being sober' in this context? -- Being private. (For more info on preserving your privacy, click onin the tool bar and scroll down to the category "Civil Liberties." Eventually, there'll be a drop down menu for the categories...but the section is a project in process)Ask yourself: how can I make my transactions -- even just one transaction -- more private? Some of the options are... Use cash as much as possible. Refuse to fill in blanks on forms, pleading a fear of identity theft. Use social networks to advertise rather than newspapers. Go through an anonymizer when doing online business. Use anonymous debit cards rather than a credit card. Never answer financial questions over the phone. For that matter, never answer financial questions. Barter when possible. Don't give the appearance of wealth or brag. Don't be that drunk in the bar.