You're going at it from entirely the wrong angle, and the article is making culture judgements that it has no basis for in descriptions like Why are minimalist design books bad? Why is an LGBTQ...
You're going at it from entirely the wrong angle, and the article is making culture judgements that it has no basis for in descriptions like
is no longer a funky little queer bookstore but slick and minimalist with a meager selection of pretentious design books
Why are minimalist design books bad? Why is an LGBTQ book store better? It's a business, if the customer base is there then it's serving its purpose. If you don't like it (as the author clearly doesn't with 'there goes the neighbourhood' comment) then learn to deal - because there is no onus on anybody else to conform to what you as an individual wants.
As for the police... presumably, they follow laws. If the law says you can't perform somewhere, and as a bookstore you don't want someone performing there, then by all means call the police. If there is a social/cultural argument to be made that the performing should stay, the correct place to argue that is that the laws are incorrect and should be changed, not that a store owner who has a particular business model based on the laws they probably looked into before buying the place is not allowed to operate within those laws.
THAT is the 'right' they have to call the cops. It wasn't misuse of the cops,, they weren't forced to do anything by the person who called them, they were informed of someone breaking the law and arrived to do their damn job. Again, don't like the law, get the law changed or deal with it - the idea that the law should be changed to make calling the police about an actual crime illegal is up there with covfefe for crazy talk.
The old "it's the law, they broke it, so it's their fault", and "if they don't like it they should have the law changed" arguments, which completely ignore the fact that the laws and the recent...
The old "it's the law, they broke it, so it's their fault", and "if they don't like it they should have the law changed" arguments, which completely ignore the fact that the laws and the recent enforcement of them fly in the face of the cultural norms that have existed on that street (and others in the city) for decades (if not longer), are incredibly weak ones IMO. And I would even go so far as to call that victim blaming and defending of institutional racism, since laws like that are often intentionally designed to disproportionately effect minority groups and other "undesirables" (e.g. Nixon's war on drugs), and are incredibly hard (if not impossible) for those being targeted to have changed precisely because they are minorities.
umm... Any business model for this store would have to include the level of foot traffic outside which brings customers in to the store - and that model would further have to include an...
not that a store owner who has a particular business model based on the laws they probably looked into before buying the place is not allowed to operate within those laws.
umm...
the music is one of the main attractions drawing people to this city. If you run a bookstore on a street that’s crowded with people because there is music, the musicians are bringing you your customers. A business owner dependent on brass bands who calls the police on a brass band is failing to notice who butters their bread.
Any business model for this store would have to include the level of foot traffic outside which brings customers in to the store - and that model would further have to include an acknowledgement of the cause of that foot traffic. Remove the music drawing people to the street, and you remove the foot traffic on the street. Remove the foot traffic, and you reduce your own customer base.
If you want a quiet classy bookshop, set it up in a quiet classy neighbourhood. Go where the atmosphere is right for your business, and where you'll attract the right customers for your business. Don't set yourself up in the busiest loudest neighbourhood if you don't want activity and noise.
It's like people who buy houses next to pubs and then complain about the noise. You knew about the pub when you bought the place. If you don't want late-night noise, then live somewhere else. What next? People buying houses near schools, and then petitioning the government to move the school because it's too noisy during the day?
Laws are well and good, but they need to take into account the real world. And this real world appears to be a bustling street full of musicians and tourists. Some business owners would kill to be able to set up shop in an environment like that!
You're going at it from entirely the wrong angle, and the article is making culture judgements that it has no basis for in descriptions like
Why are minimalist design books bad? Why is an LGBTQ book store better? It's a business, if the customer base is there then it's serving its purpose. If you don't like it (as the author clearly doesn't with 'there goes the neighbourhood' comment) then learn to deal - because there is no onus on anybody else to conform to what you as an individual wants.
As for the police... presumably, they follow laws. If the law says you can't perform somewhere, and as a bookstore you don't want someone performing there, then by all means call the police. If there is a social/cultural argument to be made that the performing should stay, the correct place to argue that is that the laws are incorrect and should be changed, not that a store owner who has a particular business model based on the laws they probably looked into before buying the place is not allowed to operate within those laws.
THAT is the 'right' they have to call the cops. It wasn't misuse of the cops,, they weren't forced to do anything by the person who called them, they were informed of someone breaking the law and arrived to do their damn job. Again, don't like the law, get the law changed or deal with it - the idea that the law should be changed to make calling the police about an actual crime illegal is up there with covfefe for crazy talk.
The old "it's the law, they broke it, so it's their fault", and "if they don't like it they should have the law changed" arguments, which completely ignore the fact that the laws and the recent enforcement of them fly in the face of the cultural norms that have existed on that street (and others in the city) for decades (if not longer), are incredibly weak ones IMO. And I would even go so far as to call that victim blaming and defending of institutional racism, since laws like that are often intentionally designed to disproportionately effect minority groups and other "undesirables" (e.g. Nixon's war on drugs), and are incredibly hard (if not impossible) for those being targeted to have changed precisely because they are minorities.
umm...
Any business model for this store would have to include the level of foot traffic outside which brings customers in to the store - and that model would further have to include an acknowledgement of the cause of that foot traffic. Remove the music drawing people to the street, and you remove the foot traffic on the street. Remove the foot traffic, and you reduce your own customer base.
If you want a quiet classy bookshop, set it up in a quiet classy neighbourhood. Go where the atmosphere is right for your business, and where you'll attract the right customers for your business. Don't set yourself up in the busiest loudest neighbourhood if you don't want activity and noise.
It's like people who buy houses next to pubs and then complain about the noise. You knew about the pub when you bought the place. If you don't want late-night noise, then live somewhere else. What next? People buying houses near schools, and then petitioning the government to move the school because it's too noisy during the day?
Laws are well and good, but they need to take into account the real world. And this real world appears to be a bustling street full of musicians and tourists. Some business owners would kill to be able to set up shop in an environment like that!