Clubbing in Greensboro

John Hammer has a fascinating story about the proposal to regulate nightclubs in the city of Greensboro.  It appears that one particular local politician might be backtracking after having initially been the primary mover of this proposal.

Hammer thinks the proposal as it is currently written will kill the local nightclub industry. 

Governmental regulation tends to create barriers to entry for new businesses; and tends to create certain advantages for larger entities.  Bigger businesses can often more easily absorb the costs and meet the administrative challenges associated with complying with a given set of regulations.

As a conservative Christian, I could care less whether we have even one nightclub in Greensboro.  It would not bother me to see all of them close.  I viewed with skeptical detachment all the celebration in some quarters over the fact that the clubs had resuscitated downtown.  Former Mayor Holliday, if I remember correctly, was among those enthusiastic about the downtown nightclub scene.  It is unsurprising where this ultimately led.

The small-government conservative, however, cannot help but be offended by a municipality's excessive intrusion into the affairs of a private industry; and by the spectre of targeting that industry with excessive costs.

Let's see how far we backtrack. 

Comments

[Bobby]

Given that the rhino lives on nighclub ads - I'm not surprised

[Joe Guarino]

Bobby, you are right that the Rhino has numerous nightclub ads every week. What do you think is the right way to handle this issue?

[Bobby]

Steps have to be taken to protect lives. When clubs say it's too expensive, they are placing a low value on those lost lives. By making police deal with this, the clubs are forcing the public to pay an additional tax for their profit and neglect.

[Joe Guarino]

I am not sure there is an additional tax, Bobby, but I appreciate your sharing your point of view. Certainly, this is a legitimate point of view that you espouse, although I don't entirely agree.