Attack of the Nanny State: Charleston SC

We seem to have hit a new low in today’s over-bureaucratized society, where we selectively enforce the rules we feel like enforcing while ignoring the inconvenient ones, and lumping more, newer laws on top of laws that already exist but are never enforced…….

A local business owner in lovely and quaint downtown Charleston, South Carolina was cited by a Code Enforcement Officer for having tossed an empty envelope that had his name & address on it into a City of Charleston trash basket. Seemingly, because he is a business owner he must use a business dumpster only for this solitary piece of refuse, else some taxpayer-paid city goon will rummage the trash bins looking for someone to bust.

In his own words:

“I received an "Official Notice" from the City of Charleston today. I have violated Ordinance 14-47-G. I dropped an empty envelope with my name and address on it in a City of Charleston sidewalk trash basket. I guess because I am a business owner I am not allowed to do this.”

Does the nany state really have nothing better to do in Charleston? When the streets are 100% crime free, no one’s getting shot at over by the bridge, no one’s getting accosted along the Battery late at night, then maybe we can rummage through the garbage to see whose name is on each piece of paper. And I love how this situation is to be rectified ASAP…how the hell do you rectify this ASAP? I guess this means that the officer will be back repeatedly to rifle the garbage.

I could see if there was a bin full of this business's trash, like packing boxes, bags of rubbish, and what not. This was a discarded empty envelope placed in an official receptacle rather than be tossed on the ground. This is asanine. What about tourists who toss trash in City bins? They don't pay City taxes so what right do they have to put trash in the City's bins? Oh wait.....ticket the guy who does pay City taxes for a single slice of paper....