From: Blanc <blancw@cnw.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 02:13:48 -0700 (PDT)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Cato forum on liquor advertising and electronic media
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970425022005.006a15b0@cnw.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Tim May wrote:

>By the way, the conventional (if flaky) wisdom in the 1950s was that
>cigarette smoking was good for one's health (a "digestive"). Had the FCC
>and FDA had the powers then that they have now, cigarette ads would have
>been _required_.
......................................................


Just as the govt is inclined to keep databases of our sins, would it be
nice to also have a long account of their faults, for posterity.  Something
to display in arguments and debates, to present to a candid world (in the
words of the Declaration of Independence) just cause for our grievances
against it and convincing proof why it is not wise to blindly follow
leaders, for yay -  sometimes they err, and sometimes one gets the shaft.

There are many books presenting detailed accounts of govt follies, but had
I the time & inclination I would arrange them into a database table for
ease in appreciation, with categories like:

	Policy/Law
	Purpose
	Date Instigated
	Actual Effects/Consequences
	Date Retracted
	Results
	
Not that I would want to create a dark picture of govt, but only to create
a dark picture of the logic of those who would give us no choice in these
matters.