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Residents of rural Olbion County, Tennessee must contract indivdiually with nearby Fulton city for fire protection. The annual fee is $75. An Olbion County resident failed to pay the fee (he says he simply forgot and had paid the fee for the previous two years) and his house caught on fire after his grandson lit trash near the building. The owner called 911 and offered to pay the fee and, later at the site of the fire, offered to pay the fire department whatever it would take to save his home. The firemen - part of a municipal force - refused because of rules preventing such action. They were on hand to protect the house of a neighbor who was up to date in terms of fees.
So, what do you think, gentle readers? Does this story, showcased by Dramatic Olbermann as an instance of the grim corporate outsourcing that awaits us all now that George W. Bush is firmly ensconced in his third term as permanent God-Emperor of Dune, demonstrate that contractual service provision is inhumane and awful? And that this story is a preview of the Tea Party uber alles? In this, the Big O is joined by a seemingly endless stream of commentators who note that Ayn Rand should stuff this fire in her pipe and smoke it, be-yatch!
Until a few years ago, [Fulton's fire department] would not respond to any fires outside of the city limits — which is to say, the city limited its jurisdiction to the city itself, and to city taxpayers. A reasonable position. Then, a few years ago, a fire broke out in a rural area that was not covered by the city fire department, and the city authorities felt bad about not being able to do anything to help. So they began to offer an opt-in service, for the very reasonable price of $75 a year. Which is to say: They greatly expanded the range of services they offer. The rural homeowners were, collectively, better off, rather than worse off. Before the opt-in program, they had no access to a fire department. Now they do.
And, for their trouble, the South Fulton fire department is being treated as though it has done something wrong, rather than having gone out of its way to make services available to people who did not have them before. The world is full of jerks, freeloaders, and ingrates — and the problems they create for themselves are their own.
