Old gas stations

[Fading Fast]

So you think it would be better if a profit-making corporation ran things?

New York and other larger cities are one thing. Everywhere else is another matter. The arrogance and sense of power can still be there, of course. But it's worse to have a large and wealthy neighbor who thinks he can do anything he wants--and does.

I believe you set up a straw-man option. I don't want either, I'll fight with you against crony capitalism (which is the only way monopolies survive). I also have no problem with gov't doing its job - we need it and it can a force for good. But it is just the situation Lizzie highlighted - where one (and I'm going to say) small-minded bureaucrat has outsized control over something important in your life - that will always make me a limited gov't person.

 

[BlueTrain]

I don't know anything about straw men. The problem with limited government ideals, which I think I understand, is that there are a lot of governments. And the ones that make the most difference in your life is first the local government, then the state government and finally the federal government. But as many small-government advocates seem to suggest, what they want is to be left alone so they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, in any way that pleases them. Yet they frequently complain about their neighbors and what they do. The wealthy generally know how to make government do their dirty work, in a manner of speaking, especially if they happen to be developers and land speculators. Zoning, for instance, always seemed like an afterthought.

Local government can be a little devious, to be sure. One reason they sometimes are is because nobody likes paying taxes but everyone wants the government, usually the city or county, to do things that cost money. So over time, lots of built-in hidden costs have been created to make up the difference. Building permits can be very high in places but they get folded into the cost of the new construction and are hidden. I don't know if that's good or bad but it's real life, at least in more affluent places with growth. Things generally are less formal in rural communities.

My father-in-law moved to the country in Virginia almost 40 years and quickly began remodeling the house they had bought. He had the local building inspector out to see the work and it turned out there really was no local code (for electrical work). He had an electrician's license and said he followed the code from where they had moved from. He said the building inspector wanted to know where he got the code book.

But it wasn't long before he, my father-in-law, was complaining about all the new "city" rules that the newcomers had brought with them. But that's what you call the last one in syndrome.

 

[Fading Fast]

I do not believe what I wrote, nor what I believe fits into your definition of a "limited gov't ideal."

That said, I re-read the last several posts and apologize as I took us down this political route with my comment about a biased ration-board official.

So, to end this, I'll just let what is written stand.

 

[BlueTrain]

I didn't define limited government. I don't have that authority.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

It's all good, fellas (and gal).

Here's a photo to bring us back around...can't go wrong with "Home Cooked Food".

Rob

 

[Fading Fast]

It's all good, fellas (and gal).

Here's a photo to bring us back around...can't go wrong with "Home Cooked Food".

Rob

If you wanted an iconic image a regular guy in the Golden Era, you could do worse than this guy.

Edit add: He looks like the innocent guy walking down the street that the main characters pass when they are running to / from trouble in every post-war '40s / '50s film noir movie.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Benzadmiral]

View attachment 85284


Rob

Nice to see a Corvair, which got an awful rep thanks to Ralph Nader. But the Corvair was a rear-engined car, and was air-cooled like the VW Bug; so what's the deal with the radiator? It looks like it was propped there for the pic -- the hood couldn't close with the radiator in place.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I suspect that's a gag photo, ha ha ha. Get a load of the look on his face.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[BobHufford]

A prior Texas flood...

 

[BobHufford]

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[BobHufford]

1938:

Today (really good chili in that Quonset hut):

 

[2jakes]

A prior Texas flood...

The 1935 flood in Junction, Texas.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"For Far Sighted Can-Openers" is the greatest advertising slogan in the history of a suffering humanity.

 

[2jakes]

HUMBLE GAS PUMPS 1937

MAGNOLIA SERVICE STATION - SOON TO BE MOBIL OIL

THE TEXAS COMPANY SERVICE STATION 1930

 

[2jakes]

GETTING DIRECTIONS - JUST MARRIED

CHEAP GAS - 1934

 

[2jakes]

No Gas Pains Here !

 

[BobHufford]