I was talking with my wife at the store the other day...

And she had an interesting realisation (I love that woman. Nice to have someone to talk to whose mind works in a similar direction to my own - and in a similar capacity - but diverges just enough to make conversations interesting,) which is simply:

"Generation X, Generation Y, and those coming up actually LIKE and ENJOY being told what to do."

This explains much - for instance, it explains why there isn't anywhere near as much popular outcry over the regulations that have been getting passed in the last year or so, regs that not so much "guide" activity as try to "force" it.

I recall noting with dismay a front page (above the fold) news item on New Year's Day this year that mentioned "Forty Thousand New Laws Go Into Effect Nationwide Today." (emphasis mine)

Yes, there have been certain rare occasions where I think a law is necessary to get people to stop doing something that is dangerous in and of itself (DWY - Driving While Yakking - comes to mind. Hands-free or holding the handset to your ear, DWY is distracting. It's been shown to be at least as incapacitating as a BAC of 0.08%. But, when CA passed the law to prevent it, the fine for the first couple of offenses wasn't even enough to outstrip the cellphone bill for a month! Ergo, I still see people doing it all of the time.)

But, 40,000 new laws, at all levels? What? Why do we have even 40,000 laws on the books in the first place, much less enough that 40,000 new laws is merely noteworthy?

And, have you ever tried to read these things? I once audited a course in Logic years back (I wish I'd taken it for credit - it was fun,) and logic doesn't have a lot of bearing on how these laws are structured. That, and you're constantly cross-referencing back and forth; just looking up one law and its effects can end up with you going through eight or ten thick books just to get the full impact of the thing.

And there are more coming all the time. And the younger generation likes it!

We've forgotten our history. The United States exists, as a nation, simply because we got tired of being told what to do by an "absentee landlord" (read: the Throne of England.) The fact that our Nation's capital - and our State capitals - are on the same continent doesn't make them any less "absentee landlords" - frankly, I'm tired of being told what's best for me by someone who doesn't know me from Adam's off ox.

As much as it pains me to admit it, I must go on record as saying the following: "Yes, we do (unfortunately) need laws to guide behaviour. They are necessary because we, quite simply, aren't grown-up enough (as a people) to govern ourselves." I'd like to see us get there - but putting more laws on people isn't the way to go about it.

The "elected representatives" aren't any help - they've convinced themselves (and most of us) that they're our elected masters, not our elected servants. Until we can finally remind them that they work for us (not the other way about,) it's going to keep getting worse.

"Power attracts the corruptible." I'd mentioned that in my last post, and I'm thinking of calling it Lord Acton's Corollary (in fact, I think I'll start doing that now. "Acton's Law" and "Acton's Corollary" are now a part of my vocabulary.) As long as we keep getting corruptible people elected to office, the system will not improve - in fact, it will continue to get a good deal worse.

There are those of you who may read this who end up thinking, "So?" Hey - you may enjoy being told what to do, but I don't. I've got an independent, functioning brain, and I'd like to be able to use it. I can think for myself, y'know?

But, if we're going to keep getting saddled with laws and regs, what do we have to look forward to? You might want to watch Demolition Man - for all of its appearance, the society shown in that movie is actually rather dystopian. Read _1984_ and _Brave New World_ (George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, repsectively) for more examples of dystopian societies.

Then come back and tell me that's where you really want to go. Me? If we head the direction of Demolition Man, I'm going to be rather more like Denis Leary's character (Edgar Friendly, as I recall,) in my outlook. "I wanna run naked down the street, reading Playboy magazine, with lime Jell-O smeared all over my body. Why? Because I might suddenly get the urge to, OK?"

I don't need other people trying to think for me, I don't want other people governing my every action. We don't have much farther to go before we get to "What is not Forbidden is Mandatory, what is not Mandatory is Forbidden."

And then where will we be?