Freedom of Movement - A Case Study
Penny, Neely and City Government
As you have clearly noticed, the political conversations on social media, television, and long-form blog hosting sites are focused on national governments, macroeconomic policy, immigration conflicts and social justice activism.
But not now. The Moneyball Method is about taking ownership of the events you can control combined with microeconomics at the most personal level. And today, this essay is about local government through the lens of an outstanding book on the subject: The Municipal Financial Crisis, by Mark Moses:
Municipal officials need to respect the future by incorporating what they should foresee and by considering all facts and all impacts. And this includes the fact that when a municipality intervenes in a market, it makes market analysis impossible.
Always best, Moses begins at the beginning: by defining the nature of government and its morally defensible purpose. But that is not enough – he defines what it means to be morally defensible. And it is on that solid foundation that Moses evaluates what can go wrong when government is misunderstood and abused by power politics combined with ostensibly good intentions:
The community is not a distinct entity possessing interests. Only individuals have interests. Similarly, benefits are realized at the individual, or private level. Thus, community interest and community benefit are neither clear nor reliable standards for decision-making.
So, let’s talk about individuals – and do it in the context of municipal government operating effectively within the scope of its moral authority. Clearly, freedom of movement in public spaces is a fundamental right, and the issue becomes magnified with concentrations of people using mass transit systems.
Jordan Neely
What happens when public safety – a fundamental obligation and duty of municipal government, becomes subordinate to mental illness, homelessness and crime as legitimate lifestyle choices? You get disintegration. You get police, courts, mental hospitals and homeless shelters at the mercy of social justice warriors and city council members demanding more money and power.
On May 1, 2023, 30-year-old Jordan Neely’s life was ended from the effects of a choke hold on a subway train that was initiated by Neely’s threatening and violent behavior toward the car’s passengers. Without going into all the details, Neely had spent the previous nine years living with the desperation of mental illness, homelessness, multiple arrests, Bellevue Hospital, a year in Rikers after a conviction for seriously injuring an innocent woman, homeless shelters, and his grandmother’s apartment.
It seems Neely’s only achievement was his impeccable Michael Jackson impersonations on subway platforms. That is important. Neely had no pride in self-ownership. No productive skills. No ego. And the catalyst for that has been attributed to the brutal murder of his mother when he was 14 years old. But this is about city government and their utter failure to fulfill their primary obligation – to protect residents from imminent danger.
Yet there are hundreds of Jordan Neely’s in the big city who are well known by police and thousands in cities across America that fit the description for legitimate state intervention with delimited scope. Sadly, it is not going to happen in a culture that worships mediocrity, as the National Coalition for the Homeless demands:
Our communities need improved mental health services, housing and support, and systemic changes in how crises are handled in public. A more equitable environment is essential to creating a safer community for everyone.
Notice the ambiguous language: “our communities . . . systemic changes . . . equitable environment.” That is not compassion. It is degradation. Compassion would understand the nature of the problem, starting with human nature and our inborn need and desire for independence. Compassion would continue with respect for the independence and pride that is earned from achieving one’s goals.
Daniel Penny
The man who was charged with Jordan Neely’s homicide is Daniel Penny. A man who was minding his own business, building his life, and stepped up to a sudden and dangerous challenge that he was uniquely qualified to handle. It took courage. It took wisdom. It took serenity. And it got him accusations of vigilantism and worse from millions of ill-informed cowards in corporate and social media.
The right to peaceful public transit on that train car was being threatened – meaning violated, by Neely. The outcome is tragic. Penny made the best choice he could make under those conditions. That is heroic. We all have that within us, if we so choose. And as Mark Moses elaborates, it is up to municipal government to do their part:
The only common good is the good that residents actually have in common – i.e., protecting their individual freedom to associate and make autonomous decisions.
In fact, Jordan Neely had that within him, but he needed help – a lot of it. And his apologists are his greatest enemies, starting with the likes of Al Sharpton and Jawanza Williams of VOCAL-NY:
The murder of Jordan Neely is a direct result of the sustained political, systemic abandonment and dehumanization of people experiencing homelessness and mental health complexities, fueled by press coverage that clearly influences policies and emboldens vigilantes.
Tough talk, but again, check out the language: “systemic abandonment . . . dehumanization . . . experiencing homelessness . . . mental health complexities.” This inanity only reinforces the idea that anyone claiming to love humanity is on a mission to destroy the best each human life has to offer. Starting with all virtuous behavior. Then Daniel Penny. Then you.
The Rational Framework
When legitimate self-defense in the absence of municipal law enforcement becomes vigilantism, and that destructive argument is accepted by a plurality of city officials, you have a prime example of the breakdown of municipal government.
Even in more rational, or smaller, jurisdictions, the rights of the individual to pursue their own lives, liberty and pursuit of happiness are being trampled underfoot. This happens in a multitude of ways: zoning restrictions lead to higher housing costs, concessions to new businesses harm existing operators, homeless services attract transients, complex building codes encourage unpermitted home repairs, minimum wage laws reduce employment, green purchases increase taxes, local vendor mandates raise spending.
But like national governments wreck market prices with macroeconomic policy and heavy-handed regulation, Moses explains that local governments are guilty of the same impotence and arrogance:
Cities underestimate and demean the community when they operate on the premise that residents and businesses will forever fail to find a way to provide recreational or senior programs.
There were no winners in the Penny/Neely case, but markets do not fail. They are win-win. Accordingly, the only legitimate role of municipal government is to safeguard the environment for each person’s freedom of movement and trade.