SerpApi.Org
Political philosophers long feared that free or liberated people would confuse liberty with licentiousness. Those philosophers regarded it as a real obstacle to popular government.
In related news, on Monday the Fire Department of the City of New York announced the arrest of 30-year-old Jonathan Strahs of Brooklyn "in connection with the arson of a school bus on West 42nd Street in Times Square."
The alleged arson occurred in the wee hours of the morning of June 14 after the New York Knicks clinched their first NBA championship in 53 years with a 94-90 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New York City Police Department partnered with FDNY in the investigation and subsequent arrest of Strahs.
Shortly before 3 a.m. on June 14, as crowds gathered in the Times Square area, a school bus caught fire.
"Investigators reviewed surveillance video and observed an individual entering one of the unoccupied buses," the FDNY news release read. "A short time after the individual exited the vehicle, a fire was discovered inside. The fire subsequently spread throughout the interior and exterior, extending to a nearby vehicle before fire companies responded and quickly extinguished the fire."
FDNY Fire Marshals then worked with NYPD and ATF agents to identify the suspect. Authorities took Strahs into custody on Monday.
Meanwhile, Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore praised the multi-agency effort.
"This fire, set on a busy street during a night of celebration, put the lives of bystanders and first responders at risk. The work of our agencies has removed a dangerous individual from the streets of New York City and the FDNY will continue to work closely with our public safety partners to keep New Yorkers safe," Bonsignore said. "This arrest reflects the strength of our partnership with ATF and NYPD, and the diligence of our Fire Marshals in following the evidence through an extensive and complex investigation."
After the alleged arson, footage of firefighters extinguishing the fire circulated on the social media platform X.
Notwithstanding recent 250th anniversary celebrations, this seems an appropriate time to reflect on where America has gone wrong.
In short, something about large cities feels hostile to the American experiment in republican self-government.
"The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government, as sores do to the strength of the human body," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1784.
Indeed, from one such NYC mob, there emerged an alleged arsonist with an idea. The Knicks won a championship. Therefore, the alleged arsonist must have assumed, this bus must burn.
Jefferson had it right. Urban mobs tend to produce that kind of destructive thinking and behavior. Or, at minimum, those mobs trigger our worst impulses and make us feel free of restraint.
Thus, a local arson case inspires broader questions. For instance, can America's republican experiment survive a social and political landscape dominated by large cities?
Moreover, in such a place, would the American Revolution have happened? After all, in 1776, Philadelphia ranked as America's most populous city with approximately 30,000 residents.
Of course, our 18th-century forebears often grew rowdy. They dumped tea in harbors and burned effigies. But -- at least to my knowledge -- they never celebrated good fortune by lighting their carriages and towns on fire.
