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Here’s why some people still evade public transport fares – even when they’re 50 cents
(theconversation.com)
this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2025
59 points (100.0% liked)
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Yeah, I understood your point. I used "free" the same way you did. There was no need to move the goal posts. .
We tend to distrust "free".
How many "free' offers do you have in your inbox right now? How many do you think are scams? We assume there are some sort of hidden costs, or that the service is "worth what you paid". If it is offered "completely free", it will be broadly avoided.
When charged a token amount, we get the impression of value. A bargain.
The "penalty" for fare evasion should be the cop looking the other way, or handing out "$5" passes and asking them to "pay it forward".
I don't think so.
Most people understand that free stuff offered by for-profits is sketchy and deceitful, while free public services is just another way of saying taxpayer-supported.
Everybody knows - or at least should know - that a free Google account means Google is going to invade your privacy, while enrolling for free at the local community college or attending school is their right because they paid for it in their taxes.
At least outside the US, that's the deal most taxpayers understand they have with the state. In the US, people would like free public services but refuse to pay for it because communism or some equally stupid non-sequitur.
No, you clearly don't understand their point. Because everybody (apart from lunatic libertarians) knows that when something is free because taxes pay for it, it's completely different from free-because-they-sell-your-data or "free"-but-it's-a-scam.