Hey Michael! This was a good article, it is an eye opener, and Everitt is dead on! Thanks for sharing this!!
KeithInKöln On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 7:30 PM, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > * > Disney's EPCOT and the Dream of Freedom > *Thursday, January 27, 2011 > by Aaron Everitt <http://mises.org/articles.aspx?AuthorId=1495> > > I recently took a trip to Orlando, Florida, for the International Home > Builders' Show. After touring the floor and having my suspicions about the > industry’s issues of corruption and collusion verified, I decided I would > invest some time in a different, more inspiring place -- Disney World. I > love the Disney theme parks. They are creative, fun, and have some of the > best-executed designs anywhere in the world. > > At one point during the excursion in the theme parks, I had the chance to > go to a new attraction that is a museum about Disney's Florida project. > There is a fascinating video of Walt Disney speaking about the project one > month before his death. It was a political video that had been used to > persuade the Florida legislature to allow Disney to construct Disney World. > It was also intended to persuade the state government that because of the > size and scale of the project the company would need to receive some relief > from code requirements and to establish the Reedy Creek District, an > autonomous pseudo government that oversees the entire Disney property. The > district gave Disney authority over its own property and relief from > significant oversight by the state government in Florida. > > In the video, Walt Disney spoke of his dreams for > EPCOT<http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/epcot/>(the Experimental > Prototype Community of Tomorrow). > > EPCOT will be an experimental prototype community of tomorrow that will > take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging > from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of > tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and > testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always > be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American > free enterprise. > > I thought that Walt's saying "EPCOT will always be a showcase … of American > free enterprise" was a nice line, and given his propensity for being > avuncular it came across as quite folksy; it harked back to a bygone era. It > stirred in me a fondness for the past and a thought that there must have > been an era sometime in America when people spoke openly of profit and free > enterprise. I felt the urge to wonder if there was more to our history than > the simple statement that "we've always been at war with the capitalists." > Perhaps there was a time when we were freer, when it was copacetic for > businesspeople to celebrate free enterprise. > > Spending a few days in the Disney World parks and seeing the full > expression of creativity, I began to wonder if, even though EPCOT was never > implemented in the form that Walt Disney had envisioned, this place wasn't > nonetheless accomplishing that altruistic goal of showcasing American free > enterprise. Because of the early work that the Walt Disney Company did to > establish their own pseudo-government entity, it appeared there was more > flexibility in how they could work and design on the Florida property than > in the heavily regulated field of commercial development within the confines > of a city or town jurisdiction. > > I thought for a moment about my travels to this showcase of free enterprise > and wondered just how much of the free-enterprise system was left in > America. I began to recall all of the elements of my travel and realized > quite quickly that, while we may hold out the idea of being a free society, > government and its regulators have their mitts on just about every facet of > our lives. > > I remembered that it had started with my Greek yogurt the morning I left -- > I was able to see that what I was consuming had no fat and 20 grams of > protein. This information had been nicely printed on the back label of the > product, a label mandated and standardized by the FDA<http://www.fda.gov/> > . > > As I kissed my wife goodbye and put on my coat, I noticed that it had a > mandatory materials label. > > I locked the front door behind me, and even that was tested by an > EPA<http://www.epa.gov/>-approved > method that allowed me to receive my certificate of occupancy to live in the > home -- because my home energy > rating<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_energy_rating>had been acceptable to > the state in which I live. > > I scraped the ice off my window to find a federally mandated vehicle > identification > number<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Identification_Number>and > emission sticker in the window. The government had required my car > manufacturer to provide the label so that they could track my vehicle, > license it, and potentially reveal my private information. > > The emissions sticker was there to verify that the car had originally been > built to CAFE <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAFE> (Corporate Average Fuel > Economy) standards and that my emission levels were at a tolerable level for > state licensing. > > I sat down and put on my safety belt, a required part of the driving > experience in my state. > > I exited onto Interstate 25 on a federally-mandated exit radius and drove > the state-mandated speed limit to the government-owned airport on a highway > designed to federally-mandated standards. > > Along the way, I stopped to purchase gasoline that had been sanctioned > clean enough by the state, through a pump tested by the state, with a credit > card that is subject to federal regulations that are ever on the rise. > > I parked my car and headed inside to take my place in the > TSA<http://www.tsa.gov/>'s > Fourth Amendment-free zone. I was subjected to a warrantless search and > seizure. I was treated as the common criminal I am not and asked to remove > my shoes, belt, and any other item that would have been required for my > entrance into any café in the airport another state regulation from the > health department, I might add. > > I proceeded through the checkpoint and down to the terminal. The PA > announcer reminded me that the Department of Homeland > Security<http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm>had raised the terror alert in > 2006 <http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/history/editorial_0844.shtm> to "orange." > > Once on the plane I spent the first few minutes of the taxi being reminded > of all the federal regulations I had the chance to violate in this sardine > can in the air. > > I was shown how to put on a seat belt in a safety demonstration required by > the FAA <http://www.faa.gov/>. We were told about the federal violations > of smoking a cigarette, tampering with a smoke detector, and sitting in an > exit row if under the age of 16. I was also told of the mandate that I had > to refrain from using my electronic devices for the first ten minutes of > flight. > > After we were finally in the air, I was reminded that gathering at the > front of the airplane waiting for one of the two bathrooms allotted for 300 > people was a federal offense against a federal regulation. > > Once in Orlando, I was picked up by my traveling companions and whisked > away to the hotel. I crossed the street intersection using a federally > mandated > ADA<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act>(Americans > with Disabilities Act) handicap ramp with federally standardized > truncated domes, climbed onto the federally mandated, state-inspected > elevator in the building, and went to our room. Once there, the strange > layout of the bathroom left three of us to use one awkwardly located toilet, > because our room was helping the building meet its compliance to ADA > standards. > > We traveled to one of our favorite and most inspiring hotels, Disney's > Wilderness Lodge, and caught a bus there at the facility. It smoothly > lowered to comply with the ADA and let us on. > > Once in Disney World, I saw a crane that was working on Cinderella's castle > in Fantasyland. I also saw several signs that Disney was adhering to the > demands of > OSHA<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_Safety_and_Health_Administration>(the > Occupational Safety Hazard Administration). OSHA requires a > construction fence, the wearing of mandated hard hats, and the use of > awkward safety ropes -- none of which was contributing to the illusion of > Fantasyland or actually making workers safer. > > The silt fence that surrounded the construction site was mandated by the > EPA <http://www.epa.gov/> to help keep the water (which Disney uses for > recreation and to derive a premium on their properties) clean. > > We made our way to Space Mountain, a high-speed roller coaster that is > entirely in the dark. By "entirely" I mean with the exception of the > government-mandated exit signs that distract from the overall theme and > scene of a futuristic rocket in space. It struck me as odd that it would be > required that I know where the exits were at all times as I was strapped > into my harness, blazing past them at 20 miles per hour. > > I needed a bathroom break and noticed that the toilet I used had a > federally-mandated "gallons per flush <http://mises.org/daily/3997>" > tattooed on the top of the porcelain. I thought it was interesting that > Disney has no legal ability to make an analysis of the most efficient toilet > and use a different kind if they choose. I am certain that they would be the > best judge of what toilet makes their bottom line better. If more water > makes toilets clog less, and their paid staff has to clean up the ultimate > disaster less frequently, can't Disney be the judge of that efficiency? > After all, I know through attending several Disney > Institute<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Institute>business seminars > that the company spends millions of dollars on efficiency > studies and monitoring each year in order to save themselves millions in the > future. > > Finally it was time to retire to our hotel, and so we embarked on a trip on > the monorail, a futuristic mode of transportation that Walt Disney helped > create. When I was younger, I loved riding in the front car along with the > pilot, as he explained the ins and outs of driving this sleek method of > transport. This time again, the door to the cockpit was open, and we made > our way to the front. We asked if we could ride with the pilot in the front > car that was designed for passengers, and we were politely denied entrance. > > When we probed further, we found that the federal government had > reclassified the monorail from a theme-park attraction to a mode of > transportation, and now it fell under the watchful eye of the TSA. It, like > many other forms of transportation, was now subject to all the rules that > were passed in a frenzy after the 9/11 tragedies. The TSA is now spending > effort and energy monitoring the monorail at Disney World, the very safest > method of transportation, which has had one fatal accident in over 50 years > of service. > > The sheer intellectual dishonesty of the state, which has concluded that > Disney has no private interest in monitoring its own safety at as high a > level as possible, indicates to me that the rules are not about keeping > people safe. There are significant financial and aesthetic incentives for > Disney to make sure that the water that surrounds its properties is clean > and that the environment that it has billions of dollars invested in remains > as pristine and wonderful as it can, so that Disney can continue to derive > the highest possible dollar for its free-enterprise endeavor. > > It is obvious that Disney has a high stake in seeing that the workers who > work for them are safe and free of situations that might cause any litigious > heartache. In the end, all this makes one aware that none of the current > system of regulation is about the actual safety or benefit of the people. It > becomes crystal clear that government's goal is maintaining as much power as > possible over people and free enterprise. > > If one thinks further about the confiscation of money through all of the > additional taxes levied upon each of the events in my trip, the control over > our lives by the bureaucrats is astounding. Walt Disney maintained his > desire to see the free-enterprise system of America always promoted as the > solution to issues that societies face. The unfortunate reality of the > present is that Disney World is becoming more of a museum about a bygone era > than a workable showcase for the future. The inventiveness and creativity > has become invested in finding ways around the government codes the company > is required to meet instead of ways to promote free enterprise. > > > > Aaron Everitt is a home builder in Northern Colorado. He is active in > libertarian politics. > > http://mises.org/daily/4991 > > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at > http://www.PoliticalForum.com/<http://www.politicalforum.com/> > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
