Shortly after the liquid bomb scare and the new rules regarding  liquids in carry-on luggage, a sweet older lady in line ahead of me was turned away for having her small containers in a plastic baggy deemed too large by the TSA.  Her transparent baggie was not full, but it was slightly larger than the "official" quart size. Next time I packed, I decided to be extra good by using a transparent baggie even smaller than regulation size. For my trouble I received a lecture about appropriate baggy size-not too large, not too small, but just right. After all, rules is rules.

These episodes follow several others at the same little airport where one TSA agent would watch me show my boarding pass and picture I.D. to his colleague standing three feet away and then ask me for the same after I'd taken only one step. By the way, I learned that the required picture I.D. issued by the government does not mean a picture I.D. issued by the government.  I tried my official Chancellor's I.D. with picture issued by a state agency. But it was the wrong state agency, they decided.  It had to be the Department of Transportation.  They would only accept a driver's license. "No Chancellor, we have to see your driver's license. No exceptions." And these guys aren't even unionized yet.  Just wait.

Coincidentally, the Geezenslaw Brothers, a country music comedy duo alleged to be from Snook, Texas, less than 10 miles from the airport in question, have a song titled A Five Dollar Fine [for Whining] about "too many fools making too many rules." TSA people are not fools; they are good people and as smart as the rest of us, I'm sure.  But, as Lord Acton pointed out, power corrupts, and nobody is more powerful than a bureaucrat with attitude and the power to make you miss your flight.  How else can you explain making you walk the full cattle-walk maze at Love Field when traffic is light, when it's obviously designed for large crowds?  And Love is one of the friendliest airports in the country.  Yet, they make you walk back and forth, back and forth, for many laps, even when you are alone, before you can show your boarding pass and picture I.D. I guess the maze is to show us who is boss. Oh well, rules is rules.

Not all rigid rules are made by government, however.  When they still had the remote terminal at DFW for American Eagle passengers, there was one little place where you could get a beer while waiting-one place, that is, if you could show proper proof of age.  Now, I'm all for proof of age to buy a beer, but for a 63 year old?

The first time I was "carded" there, I said, "You're kidding."  "Nope.  It's the rule.  No exceptions."  I told him I had two sons over 40 years old, and my grandkids were almost old enough to buy a beer legally.  "No exceptions."  Rules is rules.

I had that same conversation more than once on different occasions.  I kept thinking they would see the error of their ways.  My favorite occasion was during the same week that a ticket agent at the movies gave me the senior citizens discount without asking my age.  One guy gives me the senior citizens discount; another cards me during the same week. Go figure.

The first time I was called to jury duty, the accused was charged with possession of a very small amount of an illegal substance.  He was not charged with selling or intending to sell; just possessing.  He was probably guilty as charged, and more.  But the problem for me was a mandatory minimum sentence for that charge of several years in prison.  As a potential juror, I was questioned in the court room; I was questioned in the judge's chambers.  But I couldn't get past the fact that the crime and the mandatory punishment were way out of proportion. So, I was rejected as an unsuitable juror.  Some jury discretion on sentencing seems appropriate to me, but the government had apparently lost faith in the good judgment of its citizens.  In place of judgment, we now had a mandatory rule.  And rules is rules.

The book I wish I had written was actually written by Phillip Howard.  Titled The Death of Common Sense, it's about the unintended consequences that often result when those who write the laws (rules) try to cover all the bases in the laws themselves to eliminate the role of human judgment in their interpretation and application.  But, sometimes one size just doesn't fit all.  Zero tolerance sounds better in the abstract than it often does in its application.  Sometimes we need the freedom to cut each other some slack, or not.

What does all this have to do with anything?  What am I whining about?  It's my feeble attempt to give one explanation as to why I believe in limited government and individual liberty.  Lawmakers and law enforcers are good people who, in their minds, are doing the Lord's work.  But laws and rules are necessarily one size fits all.  By definition they are substitutes for individual choice and individual liberty.  So, by definition they sub-optimize our welfare.  Who knows each of us-our needs, our wants, our circumstances-better than we do, individually.

Let me be clear that I'm not talking about majority rule or democracy, which are good, but only when collective action is necessary.  Our welfare is maximized not by majority rule, but by individual liberty. Letting all the guys in the office vote on whether to wear bow ties or long neck ties is probably better than having the boss decide, but not as good as letting each individual decide for himself.

One problem with laws and government regulations is that they necessarily substitute collective judgment for individual judgment.  While this may be necessary at times, it shouldn't be undertaken lightly.  We can't individually provide for our national defense, or the resolution of legal disputes, or orderly traffic flow.  Modern government probably has to go beyond a traffic light and a constable, but it has no doubt gone farther than is necessary or desirable.  Maybe it's become necessary for the government to tell us how large our tube of toothpaste can be in carry-on luggage, but is it really necessary for government to mandate the size of the transparent baggy it goes in?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 19th, 2007 at 12:01 am . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.