I'm not an anarchist, but...
(This by way of a joky reference to those chewing gum ads which begin, "I'm not a dentist...")
Well, perhaps just a little, but I'm not about to shave my head and cover my face in tattoos, earrings and studs. For example, I resent having to use a passport and don't see why there needs to be a layer of bureaucracy to issue and check them, since (a) anyone who wants a false one seems to be able to get one and (b) the existence of passports doesn't seem to do a jot to prevent drug and people trafficking, not to mention terrorism, which I just did.
So while politicians are bleating yet again about public spending, here's some money they could save with my blessing. Do away with passports, the passport office, and blokes who sit in a hut all day and look at passports (once they've finished reading The Sun, that is).
I resent the existence of nation states who arbitrarily decide that here is a border and, lo, thou shalt produce a passport, though in Europe it seems to be the British are the only ones really keeping up a pretense.
Without passports, with the free movement of people round the world, the whole issue of economic migration and asylum seeking would be moot. Instead, somebody could spend some time targeting the real criminals, the cruel and evil people who exploit the desperate and traffic people around the world.
What else? Oh yes, when it comes to voting, I tend to think not voting is the most eloquent way of spressing my opinion, and I know I'm not alone in this. Not apathy, but despair.
And as far as parking is concerned, though I never park illegally myself (because I'm too tight fisted to pay fines), I'm of the opinion that if everyone could just park anywhere, this would be the ultimate traffic calming measure. See, where they've been going wrong is in trying to keep traffic flowing. If you did the opposite, not only would people generally drive more slowly and carefully, but a lot of people would just give up and leave their cars at home. So we could be delivered of a whole nother layer of bureaucracy, namely traffic wardens, the whole administration of fines and penalties, and the white van cowboy clamping agencies who go around making profit out of other people's misery.
And I hope nobody thinks I thought any of this through before writing it down.
Well, perhaps just a little, but I'm not about to shave my head and cover my face in tattoos, earrings and studs. For example, I resent having to use a passport and don't see why there needs to be a layer of bureaucracy to issue and check them, since (a) anyone who wants a false one seems to be able to get one and (b) the existence of passports doesn't seem to do a jot to prevent drug and people trafficking, not to mention terrorism, which I just did.
So while politicians are bleating yet again about public spending, here's some money they could save with my blessing. Do away with passports, the passport office, and blokes who sit in a hut all day and look at passports (once they've finished reading The Sun, that is).
I resent the existence of nation states who arbitrarily decide that here is a border and, lo, thou shalt produce a passport, though in Europe it seems to be the British are the only ones really keeping up a pretense.
Without passports, with the free movement of people round the world, the whole issue of economic migration and asylum seeking would be moot. Instead, somebody could spend some time targeting the real criminals, the cruel and evil people who exploit the desperate and traffic people around the world.
What else? Oh yes, when it comes to voting, I tend to think not voting is the most eloquent way of spressing my opinion, and I know I'm not alone in this. Not apathy, but despair.
And as far as parking is concerned, though I never park illegally myself (because I'm too tight fisted to pay fines), I'm of the opinion that if everyone could just park anywhere, this would be the ultimate traffic calming measure. See, where they've been going wrong is in trying to keep traffic flowing. If you did the opposite, not only would people generally drive more slowly and carefully, but a lot of people would just give up and leave their cars at home. So we could be delivered of a whole nother layer of bureaucracy, namely traffic wardens, the whole administration of fines and penalties, and the white van cowboy clamping agencies who go around making profit out of other people's misery.
And I hope nobody thinks I thought any of this through before writing it down.
posted by Anonymous at
Monday, February 16, 2004
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