IP: Microgov't: Old Red Tape Looks Good in Comparison (fwd)

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Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 16:47:14 -0400 From: Robert Hettinga Subject: IP: Microgov't: Old Red Tape Looks Good in Comparison

Imagine that, instead of a Clean Air Act, with its endless rules for sulfides and scrubbers, we just had a Clean Air Bill of Rights: "No corporation or business establishment shall impose an unfair, excessive or unreasonable burden of air pollution on any person or group."

ARTICLE IX. The enumeration of the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. [other related material deleted for space]

Write down the finished rules, and make them clear enough to comply with;

That's what amendnments or for.

Don't give bureaucrats a financial stake in their actions-for instance, don't let them pocket the fines they levy, lest they turn regulation into a money-making scheme;

I believe there is already a clause that stipulates that *any* material taken for public use *must* be paid for. There is no latitude for how the person got it.

Microgovernment is micro in another sense: not only is it radically decentralized, but it pokes its nose into everything, and no corner of life is too small for it to reach. Its mandate-attaining fairness in every personal environment-acts as a little microlever, prying here and prying there, opening one door after another to the onslaught of legal process.

ARTICLE X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------