Another Video You Should See - Your Government: Legislation

Here at the editorial desk of Everything is Backwards, our staff has the task to not only observe the many ways in which everything is backwards, but to also offer solutions.

Simplicity is the motto. Basically, you fix things, particularly governmental-type things, by doing the opposite of what's being done today. Let's say you observe that legislation is filled with unfamiliar phrases, unclear concepts and wrong assumptions about human nature. As a result, you have little understanding of the meaning of a law that you are required to abide by. No doubt you've heard of your responsibility as a citizen to obey all the laws, perhaps in person by a judge - "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."

Hmm. One wonders, Your Honor, how much time should be spent familiarizing oneself with the law, especially when just one piece of legislation number some 2000 pages and is written in a language that would be at home in an archeological dig, so removed is it from everyday linguistics, logic, and concepts. How about a law that merely opens the door for bureaucrats to write more law on the fly and transmogrifies two thousand pages into more than ten thousand pages?

Now imagine this being done every day.

One grossly misunderstood aspect of our unique form of government is that it's pretty much the exact opposite of all governments that came before it. In those other places, the government gave you permission to do something. Everything was prohibited unless you were given dispensation by the authorities. The government owned everything and if you were a good little subject, it just might let you live as you pleased, especially if you were its friend (or a relative).

The basis of American Exceptionalism is this concept, except backwards: we are free to live as we please unless there is a law, rule, or regulation that says otherwise. It's an unwritten rule, sorta.

Now, this doesn't mean that our leaders will always abide by it. Many in our own government don't seem to understand this simple concept and pat themselves on the back and claim that they're doing one helluva job in Washington because they're up there passing laws. If they truly held the notion of freedom in their heart, they'd be passing far fewer laws.

What they'd really do if they were genuinely interested in their fellow citizens and their God-given right to live freely, would be to review existing laws to see if they're still needed, and to repeal them if they weren't. This would also go for regulatory agencies.

An even better thing to do would be to include a sunset provision in each and every law that would require it to be re-enacted after, say, five years.

So, here's today's lesson, gentle readers: More laws = less freedom.

And, laws should be written clearly, in plain English. Most of today's laws are written by a cross between a lawyer and the Godfather: you get an offer you can't understand.

This is done on purpose. Heaven forfend that a law be written so that it can be easily understood by everyone. Who then would we pay to decipher it? How else would we know what to do to live in accordance to the law but pay a lawyer? What would our Supreme Court do?

Oh well, maybe one day we'll set everything right and get back to having some common sense in Washington.

Until then, here's Bill Whittle, our Virtual President, to expand on this idea. Enjoy.