Sunday, July 20, 2008

Bloodless Stalinism

The Environmental Protection Agency offers a good example of the process by which representative democracy is enervated through bureaucratic fiat. This is a serious attempt to exercise almost dictatorial control over a large section of our economy, and anybody who thinks I'm exaggerating should look into the history of the EPA's aggressive prosecution of wetlands "violations", which wound up sending people to jail without trial and led to the imposition of ruinous fines.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, paco, this surprises me not at all. And I speak from personal experience.

I'll see what resistance I can mount from this part of the world.....

Paco said...

RJ: Good lord! You didn't personally fall into their hands, did you? I've read so many horror stories of people getting into trouble just for trying to clean up dump sites, and for "damaging" wetlands that were little more than muddy ditches (and only that on those rare occasions when it rained), that the EPA sometimes seems like something from Kafka.

Anonymous said...

I'll drop an e-mail with the details, paco. Some things are best not discussed in the open.

kc said...

I just heard that my (hopeful) plan to clean up some property in Montana has been canceled due to infestations of mice, showing evidence of the hanta virus. I am heartsick...but there is NO WAY I'm volunteering for EPA oversight, which is what I'm told it would take. I have neither the cash nor the patience for such drivel.