Entitlement Lost

I had the misfortune this morning of watching a cable network where I was treated with indignation concerning people stranded by the Icelandic volcano who had to return to exorbitant parking fees. I realize that all bankers and big executives are exploitive and inhumane, at least according to conventional wisdom, but now the robber barons of public parking have been exposed for their greed and avarice as well. These thousands of travelers were forced to remain in Europe well beyond their planned departure, saddled with the costs of lodging and food associated with that delay, and subjected to the mental anguish of being separated from home and loved ones only to have to return to a bill for maintaining their transportation in a secure location. Does insensitivity know no bounds?

Of course, this is simply another of the many attempts to besmirch industry in defense of the consumer. What the announcers failed to mention was that these people had vehicles occupying spaces that might otherwise have been occupied by other vehicles. Should we assume that these spaces themselves should have been free of charge, even to people not impacted by the eruption, or is our humanity limited to those instances where the media can fain moral outrage? Perhaps, like health insurance, public parking should be a right extended to all citizens.

Like health care, the question would remain as to the source of the money to create or maintain parking structures. Right now that money comes from the willing in exchange for the service provided. However, the current system callously allows for the cost of misfortune to be passed on to those directly impacted by their circumstances. If parking is similarly a right, then the taxpayer should be footing the bill to protect the less fortunate from being subjected to such anguish. This logic can reasonably apply to any of the as-yet unidentified rights guaranteed by citizenship.