Hitchhiking Quote by Jonathan Crary
““Through the appropriation of public spaces and resources into the logic of the marketplace, individuals are dispossessed of many collective forms of mutual support or sharing. A simple and pervasive cooperative practice like hitchhiking had to be inverted into a risk-filled act with fearful, even lethal consequences. Now it has reached the point of laws being enacted in parts of the United States that criminalize giving food to the homeless or to undocumented immigrants.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Limits of the Visible, Jonathan Crary, 2011
Market logic turns shared spaces into commodities, stripping communal support and criminalizing basic aid.
In simple terms: Capitalism erodes mutual aid and punishes generosity.
Key Takeaway
Resist commodification of public resources.
Themes
capitalism
public space
mutual aid
law
inequality
Mood
critical
concerned
Type
analytical
political
When to use this quote
- activism
- policy advocacy
- community organizing
- food security
Key Concepts
social theory
political economy
urban studies
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we protect communal resources from market capture?
- What alternatives exist to punitive laws?
A Different Perspective
Criminalizing aid may increase social tension and underground networks.
![“The appropriation of public money always is perfectly lovely until some one is asked to pay the bill. If we are to have a billion dollars of navy, half a billion of farm relief, [etc. ] the people will have to furnish more revenue by paying more taxes. It is for them, through their Congress, to…” quote by Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2b6/calvin-coolidge-764_appropriation_the-appropriation-of-public-money-always_2164807.jpg)
