Tag: i’d also add in soda taxes and straw bans onto here

optimistic-red-velvet-walrus:

Although it is good for people to not be an asshole while driving, to not block the intersection, to move over to let people pass, to not double park, stricter and stronger traffic laws disproportionately punish black people and poor people and perpetuate a racist state that profits from overcriminalization.

Although it is good for people to not abuse substances and to not develop dependencies on those substances, stricter and stronger drug laws disproportionately punish black people and poor people, perpetuate a racist state that profits from overcriminalization, and doesn’t help people who have substance dependency.

Although it is good for people to openly discuss their past, to forgive each other on a personal and structural level, questions about criminal backgrounds

disproportionately create barriers to employment and education for black people and poor people, perpetuate an economy that deprives people of their basic needs, and increases recidivism.

We have to approach policy in a way that is not “What do I think is the perfect way for people to act at all times and how can the state enforce it?” but “What can we do structurally to reduce the harm of the world and encourage the good?”