There oughta be a law???
If you die in Massachusetts, don’t expect me to come to your funeral. There’s a statute here that makes it illegal to consume more than 3 sandwiches at a wake. Heck… for me 3 is an hors d’oeuvre.
According to www.dumblaws.com we have a number of interesting laws on the books… for example “All men must carry a rifle to church on Sunday”, and “Snoring is prohibited unless all bedroom windows are closed and locked”.
It’s fairly certain I’ve broken these, and lots more. It is still illegal (in Massachusetts) to be a Witch… that law seems to have worked out OK, and we appear to have throttled this particular threat.
What this seems to prove is that the penchant for passing a regulation to deal with every perceived danger or irritant, isn’t all that recent. We look back on these, and other archaic laws and laugh at out forebears. What were they thinking? And thank heavens we are so much more sophisticated now.
RIGHT ;-)
DDT was (and may still be) the most efficient method of killing Malaria bearing mosquitoes. In 1962 Rachel Carson published “Silent Spring”, where she said DDT had a negative affect on Eagles (among other species), and might cause disease in humans. In relatively short order it was banned for agricultural use in the US, and then virtually across the world.
Thousands of Eagles have been spared, but millions of human lives lost to Malaria. Less toxic insecticides have been developed, but none are as effective and affordable as DDT. Everyone loves Eagles, but might a less panicked approach have saved them without sacrificing human lives?
Not so long ago the sky was falling… the “Ozone Hole” was yawning wide and everyone was going to fry. All over the world refrigerants were outlawed in favor of less efficient ones. These required more fossil fuel to accomplish the same amount of cooling, flinging extra CO2 into the air, while sucking money out of the economy. Did we save the planet? Or was it just a natural cycle. If we saved the planet, why aren’t politicians crowing? Just sayin’
When George Washington fell ill with a respiratory problem, his Doctor “knew” that the correct treatment was “bleeding”. If they’d just left him alone, he might have survived. (And BOY could we use him now)
The point here is not that laws and regulations are bad… but that before implementing them a little humility might be in order. How many things do we “know” today that coming generations are going to laugh at? There are lots, but I’m not smart enough to know which ones.
We have a whole class of people who want to make things “better”. Legislators, regulators et al. A measure of that is necessary in a civilized society. However, when they, and the public, begin to believe that every problem, danger and discomfort can be addressed by another rule, several things happen.
One is that laws betraying some of our silliness remain on the books for years, getting in the way, but providing chuckles for succeeding generations. They wonder what the heck we were thinking.
More serious are the occasions when webs of regulation entangle our economy, stifling creativity and growth. In the motorcoach business, how much of our financial and human energy is spent on navigating a regulatory maze that only offers the illusion of improved safety and public service? Are we bleeding the industry literally and figuratively?
Over the years, I had several bosses… a few losers, but the majority were excellent. The good ones, each in their unique way, got the best out of me. They were a disparate lot, BUT the one thing they all had in common was that they never got in the way. When I needed help, they provided it, If messed up they slapped me, but when I was doing good, they stepped back… ego didn’t demand that they micromanage.
I’ll always be grateful for that… and government types could learn from them.
Another problem caused by too many “laws” is that we start trusting them. Consumers trust regulatory agencies they presume are well intended (and competent), rather than searching for value in a discerning way. If it’s a government approved carrier… what could go wrong?
And finally (I HEAR you sighing with relief), when you over-legislate, folks don’t take you as seriously. If there are tons of rules, and some are silly… it’s human nature to start selecting which ones you’re going to follow. You disregard the one about going to church without your rifle, and I’ll ignore the one about bank robbery.
The point isn’t that we shouldn’t have rules, but before we tell people what to do, a little humility might be in order. Our grand-kids will have less to laugh at.
