Peter Levine’s comments on Libertarianism ring true for me, out here in California, land of the Homeowners’ Association and little boxes made of ticky tacky.
I mentioned an example in my last post, but let me spell it out a little more. In some metropolitan areas, there’s a stark contrast between neat, safe, prosperous private communities in which open displays of political opinion are banned, and poor, relatively high-crime urban neighborhoods in which you often see political signs and even some picketers and canvassers. … If millions of kids grow up in communities that are wealthy but intolerant of public speech, they are likely to draw the conclusion that speech is detrimental to order and prosperity.
Today I learned that if you’re in a homeowners’ association, in California, you don’t have the right to a secret ballot. The state legislature may pass a law giving you that right for some votes. And as Peter pointed out to me, 44% of people in the Western US live in some sort of homeowner’s association arrangement, so this is a practical matter.
