I like to call it “Aw, c’mon” democracy.
“Aw, c’mon,” people say. “What’s the big deal?”
Surely, Wednesday’s story about six Binghamton University students getting kicked out of a home they were illegally occupying on the West Side spurred plenty of those types of feelings — especially among other BU students living in the city.
But proponents of “Aw, c’mon” democracy will get no sympathy from me.
The law is the law. It exists for a reason, and enforcement of code shouldn’t depend on whether people think it “matters.”
It’s a principle that applies in many facets of society lately.
Many folks seem to think Barry Bonds’ trial doesn’t “matter” — who cares if he committed perjury? Who did he hurt?
Or how about entertainment groupies, who are so overwhelmed by never-ending media coverage of Nicole and Paris, and Britney, and Lindsay, et. al., that they think bringing them justice is insignificant?
In each case, those folks are misguided. Barry Bonds’ steroid use could affect millions of impressionable young ballplayers. And there was a time when Britney Spears was a role model for adolescent girls across the country. (Perhaps I’m just getting old.)
Similarly, for every “Aw, c’mon” policy violation we let slide, the city will fall deeper into the rut it’s in.
Many of the same sentiments abound last March, when the City of Binghamton let dozens of open-container violations slide during Parade Day, right in the heart of the city. By employing “Aw, c’mon” tactics, city residents felt first-hand the effects of letting the little things slide. (It remains to be seen how the city will handle this year’s drunken celebrations — but let’s get through today’s miserable holiday first.)
This simple housing violation will not make or break the city’s future. But announcing code violations is a step in the right direction for a city on the cusp of revitalization.
It seems that a lot of financial pressure is set on the shoulders of taxpayers. Rising tax rates are painful when the foregone income put the family’s dinner on the table, or provided hot water for a shower.
But that’s what happens when “Aw, c’mon” democracy extends to the bureaucratic level. Businesses receiving unwarranted tax cuts, which might not seem like a “big deal,” results in a trickle-down effect that ends up pouring onto the city’s undeserving residents.
It’s no big deal when the city’s new “cruising” law is never enforced — until the front page tells you a Norwich woman has been selling a little girl for sex for several years. It’s no big deal when thousands of teenagers fill the local pubs with their fake IDs — until they stumble by at 3:30 a.m. and knock over your mailbox.
And it’s no big deal that six BU students are illegally dorming together in a house, until you consider the consequences of letting how you feel each day, or your personal interpretation of a law’s importance, dictate the enforcement of policy.
Strub is a copy editor at the Press & Sun-Bulletin.
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