Have you ever watched the show Hoarders on A&E? If you’ve seen more than a few episodes you know it almost never comes out okay for the hoarders or their family members. It’s heartbreaking and appalling all at the same time. People literally live under the weight of possessions, trash and even excrement – human and animal.
Watching that show makes me look around our comfortable little abode and think it could be a bit neater – it used to be before we had kids. We could use a barn for all of Mr. LC’s tools, but the garage and his tool trailer will have to do for now thanks to zoning laws and the layout of our property. (We have to take down the pool and deck before we can build a barn. And we can’t do that while the kids are still kids.) But we still have a sense of order in our home, and the show Hoarders has even helped us maintain that order. When the kids watch they think it would be a good idea to clean their rooms and get rid of things they no longer use. I’m the same way, it’s a reminder that we only have so much space to store all of our stuff.
Most of the hoarders on the show have endured great loss, and the way they have dealt with the loss is to collect things – to the point where they are completely buried under their own possessions, trash and junk. If there’s any consolation, the damage they do is limited to themselves, their friends, family members, and in some cases their neighbors. Politicians, on the other hand, hoard regulations, spending programs, and rules that affect all of us.
In many cases the hoard of regulations started before the politicians even came into power, but thanks to party loyalty or ideology, the politicians accept the hoard of rotted legislation as their own. Then they pile on, and on, and on. To the point that they smother us all. And what is their answer to the problem? Why, they introduce more legislation and add to the hoard, of course!
No hoard is too big or too destructive for the ruling class. If they don’t add to the hoard they may not be seen as “doing something” about the great mess they’ve created or added to. And when non-hoarding politicians come along and say they need to clean out some of the mess, the hoarders scream and yell, just like they do on the show. For some reason the media makes it look like the political hoarders are the sane ones, meanwhile, we’re all smothering under their massive hoard of regulations, wondering what the hell went wrong.
Some people live by the rule “Out with the old, in with the new.” For every item they bring into their homes, they discard an item. It’s not a bad idea. People can collect a lot of stuff over a lifetime. I’m thinking that’s a good idea when it comes to laws, rules and regulations. There ought to be a law – no passing a new law or issuing a new regulation without getting rid of an old one. Then again, I’m not a hoarder.
Update: The Sundries Shack linked – thanks!
Tags: Hoarders, mental illness, politicians, regulations, rules
Very good post. They still think they can “create jobs” with public money and legislation and central planning. The legislation that they do write gets longer and longer. They never, ever have enough tax revenue to satisfy their spending. They pass more and more frivolous and arbitrary laws and fail to enforce and support the laws that truly matter. When will they start to simplify the tax code so that families and small businesses need not spend unnecessary time trying to figure out how to comply with this monstrosity? Simplify the legislation so that it can actually be read before it is passed? When will they repeal, unwind, sunset, and abolish foolish programs and counterproductive agencies/departments that are wasteful and only exacerbate and compound the problems that they claim to try to solve?
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
I like it, LC! D.C. is at horder’s level 5 at least!
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
They’re beyond hopeless. They need to be voted out of office.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0