A selective libertarianism

Via Matt: I think everyone agrees that the South-Central ban on fast-food joints will be a failure. But Ezra wonders why Will Saletan is getting so excised about this, given that municipalities across the country create zoning laws all the time:

...the city council is doing something incredibly ordinary: Deciding what sort of establishment it will allow to open within its jurisdiction. This is called zoning, and not to scare anyone, but it happens all the time. Try and open a new bar in DC sometime and see how far you get. Try to bring some live music to Mt. Pleasant street and tell me if you get approval from the proper authorities. City governments have long used the preferences of residents or the perceived needs of the community to discriminate when licensing businesses for construction. It happens all over the country, every day, with every type of establishment.

I think I agree that is weird that this law--dumb as it is--is generating such fury. More to the point, locals have the right to pass as many dumb laws as they want. It's called democracy. It's not like this happened via judicial fiat. That said, I'm still thinking on whether banning, say, McNasty's is different than banning bars. I'm not clear that it's the same. But after waffling a few time, I think I'm going with John Cole on this one--of all the impositions that government puts on people, keeping them from buying a second Big Mac ranks kind of low:

There are far more serious and dangerous violations of your civil liberties happening every day done in the name of safety and the war on drugs and the war on terror, all committed by nameless, faceless, and unaccountable folks, and there is really nothing you can do about it. Fight back and you will be shot or tasered to death, or jailed for resisting arrest if you are lucky. And no one, that I can tell, other than Russ Feingold, the corpse of William kunstler, a few folks at Reason magazine, and some DFH’s, seems to give a shit.

At least with the LA City Council decision, you can address the issue. If it is unpopular, elect council members who will do your bidding. There is a course of action available.

Who do you turn to when the DEA shoots your dogs? Where do you go when Customs Agents steal your laptop? Who do you turn to when federal agents commit home invasion. That, to me, seems far more troubling than having to go to one of the already existing 200 McDonalds in LA for a burger.