The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

614 THE FREEMAN Octoberand weigh all cans and sacks used,and perhaps leave some half-filled,where heavy materials are involved?And what is the homeowner.supposed to do with thedog dung littering his yard, depositedby roving animals thatfind the location attractive for thepurpose? A side effect of the newrules, already much in evidence,is a marked increase in can$ andbags along our streets for lengthyperiods, as a result of the difficultymany find in meeting the7:00 a.ln. deadline plus the hoursof delay before the truck arrivesto make the collection plus the delay- oftel]. for several days -:- beforethe resident gets around toremoving the empty cans from thecurb area. The net result·is unsightlystreets, all over townvisualpollution, to say the least.And empty garbage cans leftstanding in driveways by the collectorsare a nuisance, and may bea hazard, especially after dark.Like It or Lump ItAs almost goes without saying,the city government took over thewaste collection business withoutasking for any advice from individualcitizen customers. Moreover,in establishing rules, includingthose of the "new system,"the people served were given noopportunity to express· their opinions.I should add that we. are notas yet prohibited from engaginga private rubbish collector, if wecan find one - but such action willnot reduce the levy for "utilities"service, or the bills for taxes.The winter of 1971-72 in southeasternMichigan was not characterizedby extremely low temperatures,but we did have quite alengthy spell when the thermometerregistered from a bit belowzero to 5° above. During this periodthe refuse collection staff ofour Public Works Departmentcalmly announced that they wouldnot report for work on days whenthe temperature was "5° abovezero" or less at the regular reportinghour. And the gang maintainedthis position all winter, de- .spite a few mild protests fromcitizens here and there. In myown case my garbage was nottouched for one stretch of threesuccessive weeks. 1 was remindedof the times on the farm whenwe attended to the chore of milkingthe cows when the outdoortemperature stood at 20° below,with the thermometer inside thestable door hovering around thezero mark. I suppose this was notin line with good modern.practiceregarding working conditions.Why the Popular Support?One .of the signs of the timesthat continues to puzzle me is theattitude of some people in· my