Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Those who can, do.. if someone doesn't try to stop them

Still getting my feet under the table. For once I have decided to pick up with 'now' rather than worry about 'then' first, though I do hope to post on a few bits from my jaunt last week.

This one was too good not to share: Beware, reading this could really get your goat

It was the first one about charging the guy landfill tax for using waste to create a wetland reserve that really stuck home.

Of course there are those who will say (isn't that neat media speak for 'I'm going to ask this but don't want to be held accountable for the question') that it's easy to highlight the few such travesties that will inevitably occur.

But frankly it happens too often to be anything but a concern, and a trend to watch with horror. I don't see it reversing. How could it? The desire to cover one's backside is creating ever more backside coverers, whose first instinct is inevitably to make their mark by covering more backsides. Will we end up with a culture entirely composed of those who monitor and restrict those who try to do stuff, only to find there are none left to impose upon?

I applaud the media for highlighting this. But I do criticise for the manner. It has become a quick harrumph and a snigger. I very much doubt anything changed as a result of these idoicies being spotlighted. No names shamed. In fact I'm sure those responsible for the one I mention above are now Heads of Policy for some new quango... and doubtless at a conference on global warming in Bali as I write.

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