Mande Wilkes: Mo-peds highlight Grand Strand's decline

Check it out: There is in fact a news topic on which everyone agrees. The topic? mo-peds.

Earlier this week I led an online conversation about mo-peds, and lo and behold, there was a consensus. Ban them, say the people.

Well, there is at least one dissenting voice: mine. While I agree that mo-peds are frustrating, I’m not ready to “ban” them.

Hear me out.

As a genuine free-market conservative, I don’t like laws. Period. It’s safe to say, actually, that I’m in possession of a healthy disregard for all forms of authority. So while I find myself agog and annoyed at a dozen things a day, rarely do I feel it appropriate to involve the government.

The “Republi-crats” see it differently. They’re a big fan of state intervention, except right before election time when they have to pretend to be conservative in order to get re-elected.

Since we happen to be in a non-election year, local officials feel comfortable in calling for a ban on mo-peds. I must say, it’s a popular idea. Like I noted above, there seems to be broad consensus for outlawing mo-peds.

Also as I noted above, I understand the frustration. Even when operated wisely, mo-peds present a threat to all motorists. Many of them top out at, what, 25 miles per hour? Obviously that obstructs the flow of traffic. What’s worse, they’re often not well-lit. Seriously, how many times have you come up on one without even seeing it until it was nearly too late?

On top of that, mo-ped drivers seem unaware of how to operate their vehicle safely. Some ride the median and some ride the shoulder, and others ride right in the middle of a lane. Which way is the right way? I don’t know.

Does anyone know? Evidently not.

Still, for all their faults, mo-peds offer options to a number of down-and-out locals — people recovering from bankruptcy, or trying to dig their way out of medical debt, or attempting to hold down a job after a license suspension. Or maybe just people who can’t hold onto a dollar long enough to put a down payment on a car. For these people — regardless of the degree to which they’re personally at “fault” for their circumstances — mo-peds are what keep them afloat.

Frankly it’d be easier for them if they gave up and decided to draw disability insurance. Bizarrely, that’s what the state appears to prefer — a pliant, reliant citizenry.

I advocate a different approach: Get the government out of the way. When the government rushes in to “solve a problem,” inevitably we’re collectively worse off. Inevitably welfare enrollment swells, employment plummets, and taxes soar.

It’s a guarantee that those will be the consequences of a local mo-ped ban. Already officials are offering a “trade” — outlaw mo-peds and expand the public transit system and build bicycle lanes. Notice a trend, here? State intervention begets state intervention. As for me, I endorse the option that doesn’t involve more bans and more tax money and more state “services.”

Come on, people. We live in an area with depressed wages, unskilled workers, and seasonal commerce. Of course there are lots of people unable to afford a car! The last thing we need is for politicians to make another law. Instead we need leaders who are willing to hear out complaining constituents without rushing to add yet another ban to the books.

If you’re a regular reader of this column, you know by now that I like to kvetch. What can I say? I’m ornery. But that’s as far as it goes. I write to you all of my complaints, but I don’t write to my congressmen.

I expect the same from you, dear reader. If you hate mo-peds, write to me and whine to your heart’s content. Or go whine on your Facebook wall, or to your best friend, or while whizzing down the road in your flatbed Ford listening to Limbaugh.

Whine away. But whatever you do, leave the law out of it.

This story was originally published September 8, 2015 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Mande Wilkes: Mo-peds highlight Grand Strand's decline."