“The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If ‘Thou shalt not covet,’ and ‘Thou shalt not steal,’ were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society, before it can be civilized or made free.”
John Adams, Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States, 1787
“A Government is instituted to protect property of every sort…This being the end of government, that alone is a just government, which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own.”
James Madison, Property, March 29, 1792
Last week, the city of San Francisco announced that it would begin “intense operations” to “start enforcing all the parking rules after being short-staffed following the pandemic.” ABC7 News noted that in 2023, over 500,000 tickets had been issued for drivers who parked illegally. “Sustainable Transportation” advocate Luke Bornheimer said, “We know that people who park on sidewalks or in bike lanes or in crosswalks or really close to intersections reduce safety for all people but especially for children and seniors and people with disabilities who walk, bike or use mobility devices to get around.” The increased revenue will also help with the SFMTA’s $12.7 million budget deficit.
Meanwhile, also in San Francisco, homeless encampment fires have doubled from 400 emergency responses in 2019 to more than 800 last year, leading to millions of dollars of property damage. The fires are caused by people burning trash, cooking food, or trying to keep warm in the winter. Some are also considered to be “malicious or reckless.”
A fire on October 13, 2023, damaged three vehicles for $47,628 in total damage. A local business owner said she had filed many complaints about outdoor fires to the city’s 311 phone line with no results.
So, what’s going on in a city that meticulously enforces parking violations but fails to respond to dangerous outdoor fires that cause large amounts of property damage?
Maybe it is because there’s an incentive to solve parking problems; after all, people who own cars can afford to pay fines for their infractions with a benefit to the city’s bottom line while, on the other hand, stopping people who start dangerous fires can cost the city even more when it comes to enforcement and does not directly benefit the city’s bottom line.
Whatever the rationale, San Francisco and many other cities in the United States are entering a period of “anarcho-tyranny.” (The term refers to a Hegelian synthesis when a government oppressively regulates the lives of otherwise law-abiding citizens yet lacks the ability or will to enforce laws to protect them.)
A clear example of this oxymoronic reality is the spate of recent squatters’ rights cases. In February 2024, a 47-year-old New York City homeowner, Adele Andaloro, was arrested after she changed the locks on her home that she had inherited and was trying to sell, which had been taken over by squatters. She went to the house with a locksmith and a local TV channel. It turns out that in New York City, a person can claim that they have “squatters rights” after being on the property for 30 days, including the time the actual homeowners are working their way through the courts. It is illegal for the homeowner to change locks, turn off utilities, or otherwise disrupt those who have taken up residence in their houses. The police arrested Andaloro because she had “illegally” changed the locks to her own house and had not given a new key to the squatter, and told her to address it in court because it had become a “landlord-tenant issue.”
San Francisco has become notorious for winking at crimes like shoplifting or drug dealing while ruthlessly enforcing fines. In some areas, a person leaving their car unattended will need to both fear thieves who break into cars without consequence and police officers who will ticket their vehicles for being parked in an area for 5 minutes over the time limit. As it currently stands, there’s a rule that requires people to prove that their car doors were locked to prosecute thieves, even if the thieves broke doors or windows.
In some areas, a person leaving their car unattended will need to both fear thieves who break into cars without consequence and police officers who will ticket their vehicles for being parked in an area for 5 minutes over the time limit
Major city centers are becoming ghost towns. (For a tour of vacant streets, check out https://www.youtube.com/@LeoMetalTraveler ) There are several reasons for this, including withdrawal of law enforcement, overregulation of business, the Pandemic, and perhaps the contrasting safety and ease of online shopping. In San Francisco, the flagship Macy’s is closing, joining hundreds of other retailers that have decided it is better to leave the city than try to continue to do business there. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering an ordinance requiring the few remaining grocery stores to provide six months’ written notice that they are closing. Failure to do that could open the stores to lawsuits by community members.
In New York City, the government is suing a shopping mall management company for breaking its lease halfway through a 20-year term. Most of the retailers in the relatively new $1 billion facility located over the subway have abandoned their spaces and left due to unchecked crime. Westfield says the MTA has failed to fulfill its obligation of providing public safety, and multiple tenants have left due to “break-ins, theft, vandalism, harassment, and assault.” Meanwhile, New York City law enforcement is focused on high profile political cases.
Businesses need not remain in once-safe but increasingly dangerous communities, and individuals who can afford to leave will do so. Once a community is no longer considered a safe long-term investment, it will take decades to regain trust if it ever happens. Meanwhile, cities will turn to narrower and narrower revenue streams achieved through overwrought regulation and fiscal punishment of the remaining citizens who have the financial resources available to offset some of the lost revenue. This will lead law-abiding citizens to abandon them even faster.
Eventually, major cities failing to uphold property and security rights will descend into anarchy. As it now stands, with restaurants and shopping centers shuttering, the only reason to visit the once-beautiful downtown areas will be to attend required meetings at government offices and courts. This decline has happened in the Rust Belt portions of the United States and is about to reach previously affluent coastal cities.
If cities wish to reverse this decline, leaders must be willing to do the hard work of once again enforcing the law in ways that encourage good behavior at all levels. Giving out parking tickets while fentanyl dealers operate with impunity just feet away is not the answer.
If cities wish to reverse this decline, leaders must be willing to do the hard work of once again enforcing the law in ways that encourage good behavior at all levels.
There is some hope that this could turn around. In 2020, Oregon voters accelerated the state’s decline when they approved a ballot measure, Measure 110, that decriminalized possession of hard drugs, including fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Rather than facing criminal prosecution, drug offenders would get a $100 citation that would be waived if they called a drug treatment hotline. Four years later, after the state experienced a drug free-for-all, Oregon legislatures passed HB 4002, which made drug possession a misdemeanor. The first offense will be mandatory addiction treatment with no jail time or fines. If they break probation, they can face up to six months in jail, and records would be expunged within three years. It is not a perfect solution, but it is a step toward sanity.
However, given the scale of the issue in much larger communities, such steps are likely to fall short. As the exodus from states that stifle business and property owners but are lenient toward those who commit property crimes continues, the balance of power is likely to change dramatically. They cannot continue to operate on their dwindling tax base. Eventually, there will not be enough money to continue to provide essential services. The problems these permissive cities face today will be exponentially exacerbated as retailers and jobs leave the area. Cities cannot force people and businesses to operate without as much as a nod toward safety.
The decline of America’s cities has been rapid, but if it is to be reversed, community leaders must take decisive steps toward restoring order in society at all levels. The only question is whether they have the willpower to do so.
