Ah, a brand new month and a brand new “most idiotic statement I’ve read this week’ in the Chron’s letters to the editor:
Homelessness will end in San Francisco after we elect Newsom mayor on Nov. 4. Human lives are at stake.
There are some compelling reasons to support both Gavin Newsom and his “Care Not Cash” initiative, but come on. Isn’t this just a little bit of a stretch?
Moving on, there’s this bit of faulty logic:
Basic justice says everyone, no matter what their income, should have equal access to all parts of the city — every day, at all times of day. Muni is the most basic transportation system for city residents. Equal right to access throughout the city can’t be met unless Muni fares are kept low. Fares need to be cheap enough that they aren’t a burden to anyone, no matter how low their income is… The right to transportation is part of the right to life in a city.
People, please get the hell over it. San Francisco has one of the cheapest mass transit systems of any large city in America. The right to “equal access to all parts of the city” does not necessarily suggest that this access has to be provided at the individual convenience and whim of all 793,000 residents, nor is “right to access” necessarily synonymous with “right to transportation”. The fact that I have a right to visit North Carolina or New York City whenever I choose does not suggest that the airline must provide a seat of my choosing, day or night, at whatever price I’d prefer to pay…
It’s a quarter. Learn to cope. Most of us already have. And by the way, who is this “Basic Justice” character, and where can I read more of what he’s said?
Unrelated: here‘s one of those cases where male privilege definitely works to my advantage…