The Canal Street stuff is such a microcosm for where we are and how we got here. The DHS thread and these raids are performative cruelty and degrading.
However: it is undeniable that there was a bustling illegal counterfeit market run by unauthorized immigrants that just existed in the open in the middle of town. Itās absolutely implausible to argue that its existence benefited anyone save counterfeit bag manufacturers and unauthorized immigrants and aside from the public annoyance likely incurred other costs as well beyond just the occupation of a common public space for illegal activities.
Iām reminded here of Bunny Colvin in The Wire giving his brown paper bag speech. About how critical the nod to the social contract. And what I can say is that jn a lot of areasā immigration enforcement, urban disorder, petty crime, etc.ā we went through a stretch where no one was using a paper bag and nodding at the social contract.
If youāre on the left itās time to acknowledge that most people are in favor of securing borders, most people donāt want to see open illegal activity on city streets, most people are aggravated by petty criminality and shit like fare jumping, most people just want to adhere to the social contract.
Itās super politically dangerous when the authorities or institutions claim that these things canāt be managed (because they plainly can do so) and even more politically dangerous to imply that trying to manage them is inhumane. Because then you surrender the issue to people who are willing to solve the problems by being inhumane. And youāre gonna lose that one: force people to either vote like a good person or vote for street cleanup and border enforcement.
This is how these problems metastasizeā itās trying to push a rock uphill against human nature and it all kind of exploded in with the added stress of COVID.