Tuesday, December 20, 2005

regulation man

Nick decided to launch Christmas week by pissing in his readers’ punchbowl. Having better tradecraft, Dave decided to go with the lighter side of public affairs as a complement to the forthcoming saturnalia. And call me an old softy, but I do believe that Aaro’s stumbled over his niche. Gawd bless me if it isn’t a true, open and honest statement of his beliefs, with nary a peeve, a niggle nor an attempt at l’esprit d’escalier over the slights of dinner parties past.

Yes, Dave is regulation man. He loves these little laws that make our lives more civilised in a thousand and one ways and wants us all to shut up grousing about them. And truth be told, there’s a point to make. Complaints about regulation are getting as wearisome as the regulations themselves. Aaro’s warm, bearlike embrace of restriction hits that snack contrarian sweet spot opinion professionals like to aim for.

Of course, there’s a contrast here between his advocacy of public micromanagement and his earlier statement that the government can be excused for the failure of the CSA because no-one can understand the complexity of the human heart – as though the rest of human life wasn’t equally as complex.

But nonetheless, I think we’ve hit upon the heart of Dave. He’s abandoned the idea that political agency can bring about any worthwhile major change. But it can send us love notes and bring us flowers. In minor matters, the state is our safety blanket. It can plant wet kisses on our foreheads, take us gently by the elbows and guide us through the minor pitfalls of life, wiping our noses and minding our p’s and q’s for us.

OK, good. This is default Dave. We now have the yardstick by which to judge his various peeves and grumbles. It’s amazing what a freebie to a repressive Muslim regime can do for a man’s inner certitude. Nick should try it sometime.

Rioja Kid

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