I, Pencil
Of course I could not have been more wrong and eventually I even admitted it, which might serve as a lesson for elected officials. I never thought I should tell others how to live, much less how much water their toilets should use. Even though I felt I knew all I needed, I never felt like an expert at anything. I distinctly remember learning in a history class about those who were known as Renaissance Men. According to my memory (which is rarely a good thing to count on) these men were not experts at anything, but knew at least a fair amount about a lot of different subjects. (Note that my dictionary says they were experts in several fields, but that's not how I recall it.) That to me seemed the way to go, though I'll be the first to say I've not achieved it.
Imagine my surprise some years later when I realized that elected officials considered themselves to be expert in everything, and most importantly how I should live. Kiss enough butts to raise money, lie to every single person you speak with, get elected to office and now you're an expert in every subject that comes up? If you're an elected official in DC, you get to weigh in on how much water my shower should dispense, what light bulbs I have to use, how every single child in the entire country should be educated and how money should be spent for national defense.
Nearly all of us understand that passing more and more laws, regulations and rules actually has nothing to do with governing the country, its all about gaining more power over us, the little people. At the same time it needs to be recognized that laws, regulations and rules affect all of us and when people who obviously know very little about the subject are making them, mistakes will be made. Experts err all the time, but true experts normally admit it, apologize as needed, and adjust for that when moving forward.
I'm pretty sure we all remember how often politicians apologize, not counting amorous peccadillos of course. Not long ago they outlawed incandescent light bulbs, pushing ones called CFLs instead. That the new bulbs contain mercury, a poison in the amounts used, doesn't seem to matter. Earlier there was ethanol. All it did was reduce vehicle mileage, increase food costs and further impair the environment. What did they do - they just mandated even more ethanol use.
Some of you may have seen the clip of one politician recently asking another during a debate "How do you create a job?" The poor questionee had no clue. I suggest one get asked "How do you make a pencil?" I ran across I, Pencil on the net this morning and read it again. It takes maybe ten minutes to read and in that short time explains so much of what's wrong with a government that thinks it knows best how to rule we little people. Perhaps we might require anyone elected to office to read it aloud, in public, just before their swearing-in - and then sign it, but not in pencil.