Statist government laws often conflict with logic to the
point where people might be punished just as much for obeying the law as for
not obeying the law. The hapless victims
of statist authority can be damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
Consider, for just one example, the case of Los Angeles area
homeowners, Laura Whitney and her husband, Michael Korte. On the same day the State of California
approved mandatory outdoor watering restrictions with the threat of $500 fines,
they received
a letter from the City of Glendora threatening a $500 penalty for not watering
their brown lawn.
"Despite the water conservation efforts,
we wish to remind you that limited watering is still required to keep
landscaping looking healthy and green," says the letter,
which gives the couple 60 days to restore their lawn.
If they water their lawn enough to restore it and keep it
green they risk being hit by the state with a $500 fine. If they try to avoid
that fine and abide by the state’s new drought busting public service slogan: “Brown
is the new green,” they get hit with a warning from their city that they
face a $500 fine.
It’s water your lawn or pay a fine or don’t water your
lawn and pay a fine.
"It's almost crazy because one agency is
telling you one thing and another is forcing you to do the opposite," said
another resident.
"It seems to me those cities aren't
using common sense," opined Democratic California
Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown. "It's too bad you need a law."
Yes, of course it’s crazy. Statist laws often don’t make
the slightest bit of sense, but no, the last thing we need is yet another
statist law, because with statist government authority, too often it’s a
situation in which...
... you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
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