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Notes -
The ordinary citizens of New York don't have that much say. Every few years they get a vote between people all of whom will either not solve the problem, or cause other problems even worse, or both; that's all the say they have (besides exit). The government has decided it's OK for homeless people to live and shit on the street and terrorize subway passengers; it has decided it's not OK to harm these homeless people (even when they're acting threatening) nor to carry a gun. And it has easily enough power to achieve these ends. It is true that the government COULD decide otherwise; it certainly has the capacity to do it (except in as much as it is constrained by higher-level governments, which is in fact a great deal). But it does not want to.
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