Am I the only one who thinks of "The Pushcart War"

after what Bloomberg tried to do in New York this week?

Am I the only person who remembers "The Pushcart War"? It's a kids novel from 1964 about a conflict between the pushcart vendors and truck drivers in New York. It features as a minor but important character the corrupt mayor of New York Emmett P. Cudd who takes the side of the big trucking firms against the pushcart vendors. His language in justifying his brutal treatment of the protesting pushcart vendors is surprisingly reminiscent of Bloomberg's excuses.

From the Wikipedia article on the novel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pushcart_War): "Initially, the outlook is bad for the peddlers because the trucking companies control the newspapers and the corrupt mayor, Emmett P. Cudd, but the citizens of New York City and the members of the press eventually move to the side of the street vendors after the peddlers' Peace March is interrupted by violence on the part of the truck drivers."

I'm struck by the parallels (I read "The Pushcart War" as a kid and have never forgotten it!)

Anyway, life imitates art. I hope - the novel eventually has a happy resolution (sorry if I'm spoiling it for anyone!)

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Tom Beck


Dudley Moore: Do you feel you've learnt by your mistakes here?

Peter Cook: I think I have, yes, and I think I can probably repeat them almost perfectly.

You make me want to read it again. I think I'll put it on my list. It's been forever since I read it, so I can't speak to the parallels to Bloomberg, but that's definitely the kind of book it is. Many thanks for the reminder!

:hi:

Indeed--shows of force against the Occupy movement repeatedly backfire.

:kick: