Let companies set prices

Searchlight Institute, an organization working to build a bigger tent for the Democratic Party, is hiring. Their mission and goals are aligned with Slow Boring’s, and we think many of our readers might be interested in the work that they’re doing. They’re currently looking for a Press Secretary and a Policy Analyst (job descriptions and application instructions here).

I got laid out by the flu over the long weekend and am only recovering recently, so to help ease back into the workweek we’re shaking up the schedule and doing the mailbag today. We’ll be back with a full article tomorrow.

Marybeth: Why do dog owners not leash their dogs in public where this is required? I find that normal people who generally follow the rules, still seem to find this totally optional even in the presence of clear posted signs. They even act offended when I ask them to leash their dogs (so at that point they can’t even claim they aren’t bothering anyone)

Gotta be honest that I have not witnessed this behavior very often.

But I think we’re seeing here that a lot of folks have the sense that “a criminal” is a certain kind of person, and that kind of person is simply not middle class with steady employment.

So if a middle-class person with steady employment wants to drive 39 miles per hour on a wide urban street with a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour, it’s unreasonable for a traffic camera to tag them and fine them. After all, it’s not like they’re driving drunk or high or participating in illegal street racing. They’re just in a hurry! By the same token, your unleashed dog owners are probably very caring pet parents. They’re not engaged in illicit dogfighting rings or anything sordid. They just want their dogs to play and have fun and what’s wrong with that?

Well, in both cases what’s wrong with that is that in certain shared public spaces — notably urban streets and parks — having fast-moving cars or unleashed dogs greatly elevates the risk that innocent bystanders will get seriously injured. But the people doing these things feel like it’s okay because they think of themselves as good