From: Antonomasia <ant@notatla.demon.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 5 Apr 1997 15:19:17 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Ruritania Discovers Motor Transport
Message-ID: <199704052213.XAA01388@notatla.demon.co.uk>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Ruritania Discovers Motor Transport
-----------------------------------

Once upon a time in the land of Ruritania (known for
its transparent trees, but that's not today's story)
the population were discovering motor transport.

All kinds of good things became possible then, including
faster and safer deliveries, new kinds of business carried
out over distances (and with that opportunies for foreign
trade) there was a lot of interest in the subject from
far-sighted people.

But the government of Ruritania concentrated on the
problems they imagined plaguing the acceptance of this
technology.  (The government was a democratic one, that
is to say a loosely-related band of popularity-seekers.)
There were cries of how the added speed and load capacity
of these newfangled cars would assist crime.  A few wise
men pointed out that though cars probably would be used
in some crimes, the advantages were still clear.  For one
thing criminals might still be in the minority, while the
people standing to gain would be practically everybody.
Also the cars would prevent much crime.  For example,
people would be harder to attack than when walking home
from the the supermarket carrying 6 heavy bags of food.
They'd load up with other people nearby and be home sooner
and more safely.

The government agreed there were advantages, and
certainly didn't wish to appear backward or oppressive,
by prohibiting mere members of the public from driving.
So a plan was made to permit driving, but with restrictions
to suit the government's wishes.  There was to be a police
officer in every petrol station to record who went where,
when and what they were doing.  Only that didn't suit the
public spending figures (nor probably the chief constables)
so instead distribution of petrol was banned.  Except,
of course, for the petrol vendors who enrolled in the
new branch of the Police force - the Traffic Tracking
Police (or TTP).  Members of this force had a bunch of
qualifications; mainly to do with ensuring that they could
be counted on to report on any traffic they'd observed -
within an hour - to the great guardians of the common good.
Surely nobody could fail to trust the government or any
related body ?  Weren't these the very people who had
defended our health at the risk of their own reputations by
stating that beef was certainly safe before any of the
research was in ? [1]  Or guided us to a right decision in
a promised referendum (on our association with nearby
countries) by not holding it.

This petrol distribution network announced by the
government (though not strictly a government body) was
trumpeted as progress and encouragement, bringing the
benefits of the technology to the public, business, and
anywhere else benefits belong in a democracy.  Sceptics
viewed it as a costly restriction.  People disinclined to
join the TTP, or indeed who failed the in the recruitment
process, were prohibited from supplying petrol (even free
of charge).  Criminals, so it was said, would be tracked as
they bought petrol because they would not be able to run a
black market in the petrol they needed for their crimes.
This looked decidedly doubtful.  The use of the petrol
was also ignored - fixed security lighting by petrol
lamps (hiding nothing, but rather the opposite) was also
restricted by the new progressive legislation.

Nor was that all.  Not content with banning the provision
of petrol, the ban also covered offering it.  The wording
of the act was so vague, causing concerned citizens
to wonder whether answering the telephone would be viewed
as supplying petrol (after all, it could save somebody
a journey).

And what about the scope for crime by people with
access (legitimate or not) to the records of the TTP ?
The legislation had a few things to say about that, but
wouldn't it be safer not to have the records ?
(Like the Ruritanian government had done with records
of polluted sites - look no pollution!)

So it was that Ruritania remained in the 1940's well into the
21st century.




[1] See 'Health & Safety at Work' April 1997
    for a grim view of this.
    ISSN: 0141 8246       HSW@tolley.co.uk

    

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# Antonomasia                                            #
#                       ant@notatla.demon.co.uk          #
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