All will be fine

There’s no easier way to take money out of our pockets than taxing goods or services that we can’t go without: food, fuel, property taxes, and even those addictive ones like smokes and alcohol. Another fave of those that are responsible for us is fining us for bad habits, momentary lapses in judgement, or even pure distraction. When we drive, we can run the gambit of these options.

Most of the time we get away with it, but not always. In Toronto, police are quite present, and ready to pull you over, it’s their job. You do find the odd constable who’s understanding and may just let you off with a finger wag, but I think most of us who drive every day, have felt the sting of a fine, or two. From what I hear, these fines are ridiculously high, and people can do nothing but fume to themselves. The government doesn’t need to explain much, after all, they’re merely punishing rule breakers and, simultaneously, protecting the good people. But does punishment have a price cap? Or is the sky the limit?

The American authorities boast of tight rules, and punishment for deviants, they have more people in jail per capita than any other country in the world, to prove their point. Clearly, jailing people en masse is not resulting, if your end game is to reduce crime. So, by the same token, have we not learned that raising fines doesn’t keep people from speeding, or weaving in and out of traffic, or running a yellow? Of course they have, but it’s an incredible source of income. Like shooting fish in a barrel, they know they can set up an officer with a radar gun at the bottom of a hill, where the limit is 60, and catch all day long.

The city of Toronto is too busy, and too crowded, especially with vehicles. I don’t know for sure, but are there cities that hunt for infractors as voraciously as in Toronto the Good? Last time I checked, (it’s been a few years), streets where there was ‘No Stopping’ during the rush hour, had tow trucks parking-in-wait at 3! And the good ol’ Parking Enforcement trolls where there right on schedule, to slap the ticket on the car still sitting there at 3:31. Everybody gets a cut. Even back in the day, these were sizeable, I can’t imagine now. I guess every business has to keep growing. When taking my mom to Princess Margaret, I couldn’t leave the car for a second without getting a ticket; it’s like they were hiding in the bushes. They don’t even have to write anymore; in the blink of an eye, you’ve been fined and in the system! Once they get used to that cash flow, they never let go. On the contrary, they keep going for more, and always on the high moral ground. The squeeze will continue, it seems to work so well. And all we can do is…nothing, it just festers in the back of our mind. Maybe we can avoid these things by not making mistakes or having emotions. Cutting down on being human.

All will be fine though, (if you’ll pardon the pun). In the not-too-distant future many, or all autonomous tasks we now take for granted will be ‘done for us’, like driving. Some day in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be driven. No license, no detours, the vehicle will take you where you need to go. They are furiously working towards that. Physical money will disappear too, and you won’t have to worry about paying that fine on time, because they’ll take money out themselves. A very convenient future ahead indeed.
Fiquem bem.

Raul Freitas/MS