"I suppose that if you grease the proper palms, you'll be allowed to put your Sherman on the Queen Elizabeth Way."
arthur I'll disguise it to look like a Hummer. -----Original Message----- From: Harry Pollard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, September 19, 2003 7:05 PM To: Cordell, Arthur: ECOM; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Futurework] "Wettbewerb macht frei"? (market competition) Arthur, Sounds all right to me. I hope your "for all uses" doesn't include the car of the Peace River resident who has to make a round trip to Edmonton twice a week. I was in the city last month, where there is a congestion charge for people coming into the city. I noticed the traffic was moving well in down-town London. However, if you really want to get past the palliatives and deal with actual problems, consider what I wrote to you last month, "Even better would be to have compact cities without roads or cars. But that would require a land-value tax to get there efficiently." You said: "Too much government you say?" Let me throw that back at you. Is 75,606 Federal regulations and 1,400 new State laws in one year too much government for you? Back in the early '50's I was having dinner with Sir Waldron Smithers - who looked like one imagines a Tory to be. A large bald head was the overwhelming characteristic. "Harry" he said "God on his wisdom gave us Ten Commandments, but the Labor government needs 29,704 regulations." I thought that was pretty good. Then I saw it in an op-ed he wrote, then he was quoted on radio - and I read it in Hansard. I realized he had not come up with a goodie just for me. Rather he had found a good one and was beating it to death. But he had made his point. I've already made the point that we who have survived are natural cooperators. It's safer to gather in communities. Community encourages specialization and the multiplying of wages that comes with trade. Communities are a great idea of humanity. However, when lots of us live in close proximity, we need some rules of behavior. We should decide not to harm each other, for example, We should make clear what belongs to you and what belongs to me. Just ownership of property is essential to a good community. However, perhaps the rule that we should stop before entering a main road is honored more in the breach and some nasty accidents occur. So, the rule is made into a law. A Stop sign is erected and failure to stop gets a penalty. The rule has become a law. So, laws are passed which apply to everyone in the community and impose a penalty for failure to abide by them. Now, when I protest the 75,606, you immediately bring up how much we need the basic laws. I agree we do - but perhaps the number we need is closer to the Ten Commandments than the 75,606. In a related matter, when tax money has been used up for the privileges, perks, and pensions of the government - they scream for more money. Why? Well they smirk, we need our police and firefighters and unless you fork up - crime and fire will become rampant. I've called them clowns. Well, they are the worst kind of clowns - the venal type. Those who laugh and joke and fail in practically every area of government even as their hands are in our pockets. I suppose that if you grease the proper palms, you'll be allowed to put your Sherman on the Queen Elizabeth Way. Harry -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arthur wrote: >Harry, > >Let's say that we legislate the general dimensions of passenger cars. For >city use they all are somewhat like a Corolla. In fact for all uses. So in >an accident it is Corolla-type vehicles against other Corolla-type vehicles. > > >We standardize on other things in our society (plugs, suitcases for carry on >travel, etc) so why not standardize on vehicle size. Put all the "bells and >whistles" you want in them. But keep size and weight somewhat the same. > >Too much government you say? You say you want the freedom to choose? You >want to drive the SUV of your choice--perhaps a Hummer. Well to protect >myself from freedom loving folks such as you I will appear in traffic with >Sherman tank. > >arthur **************************************************** Harry Pollard Henry George School of Social Science of Los Angeles Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 Tel: (818) 352-4141 -- Fax: (818) 353-2242 http://home.comcast.net/~haledward **************************************************** _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
