I’M DREAMING OF A BLACK MARKET, JUST LIKE THE FREE ONES THAT WE NEED:

…O’Brien, the first and only homeless person to belong to the Harvard Square Business Association, said he is tired of fighting City Hall.

His story is a long, involved one that includes getting arrested twice, obtaining various permits, and being moved onto subway grates by the Cambridge superintendent of streets, only to have the MBTA say he couldn’t set up on its property. When he tried to open a book business in a nearby church, he found he couldn’t get liability insurance. When he tried to get a tax identification number, he said, “they wanted all sorts of paperwork” that he couldn’t provide, especially since he had a half-dozen other homeless people working for him on commission. Now his peddler’s permit has lapsed, and he said he has grown weary of filling out forms.

“It’s the paperwork that killed me,” O’Brien said. Decades of living on the streets have weathered his face beyond his 55 years. He says he ran a similar business in New York and was never hassled.

more (via Hit & Run)

The Institute for Justice, here.