Not long ago, at a nearby golf course, vandals caused tens of thousands in property damage. A newspaper account reported the damage at about $50,000, and included photos of the scene.
I’m not a patron of the course, and don’t know the owners. I have, though, cycled past it many times. The course has always been an early and happy marker on my rides into Jefferson County. It’s pleasant to ride by – golf’s not my sport, but it’s uplifting to see people enjoying their sport.
We’ve had more vandalism in Whitewater than our community deserves, because the right amount of vandalism is none at all. (For an earlier post of the senselessness of property destruction in town, see The Crude Illegitimacy of Vandalism.)
A few remarks seem in order.
Investigation. Since the newspaper account, I know of no official word on an investigation into the crime. The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office. The community has a right to know about the progress of that investigation: (1) are there suspects? (2) has anyone been charged? (3) does that department expect to bring charges?
Property. There’s a waxing movement now to criticize private property, but that’s not seeing property rights correctly. Private property is correctly considered a foundation of liberty, and space from within which one may be secure from the state.
It’s more than that, though: private earnings committed to leisure are expressions of peace, of voluntary, cooperative exchanges. No one gets hurt, no one is insulted, no one denied, in a free and open market. All those people who patronize that course do so with their earnings, there and then spent on peaceful pursuits in off-hours.
So many trendy attacks on property, and the contention that property, itself, is wrong or excessive, ignore this truth: that private transactions on golf courses, at clubs, etc., are free, cooperative exchanges for mutual happiness.
A Teachable Moment. I’m not a Democrat, but I surely respect Pres. Obama’s use of the phrase a ‘teachable moment.’ An accounting of this vandalism affords an opportunity not for demonization but for a teachable moment, of reconciliation to a deeper understanding: that private property in a free market originates from effort and thereafter sustains voluntary, cooperative pursuits.
That teachable moment depends on a public accounting of ongoing investigatory efforts.
Initially the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Dept. said they had leads on some high school students, but there apparently have been no updates on the investigation.
Unfortunately this was the second incident of vandalism at a local golf course within about a ten day period. The earlier incident was at the country club, where similar vandalism took place, although evidently the value of the damages was not as high.
thank you for writing about this
people want to know whats going on but its like we re supposed to ignore it
newspapers dont follow up
We have to listen to whatever government “movers and shakers” want to tell us Meanwhile they sweep problems they can’t solve under the rug.
Jefferson County Daily Union reports that suspects have been identified in the Cold Spring incident. If in fact they’re all under age 17, it may be that their names will not be released; although for this magnitude of crime, one wonders if they should be.
http://www.dailyunion.com/news/article_e4f76426-dac4-11e3-bb90-0017a43b2370.html