Today’s first pet peeve shall be copycats. Copycatism doesn’t work because it ain’t got no soul. On my mind is the Heritage Foundation’s following the lead of leftists in trying to win a campaign through the power of anecdote. The problem is, logical people take anecdotes for what they are; and so asking people to “tell us your stories” panders to stupid people and encourages smart people to think stupidly. Something is wrong with our education system if people are not learning to reason with principles.
My second pet peeve shall be political parties. I think they could do more by getting out and helping the poor and afflicted than by sitting around wondering how they can organize and win elections.
The third shall be the use of order. Order is great when it is used as a tool to increase functionality. It is crazy when it becomes a means to an end. I have experience working in an environment where the filing system was so complicated one could never find anything, but that was the way the boss liked it. He used the detailed maze to tell the world his business was official and important. It was a mask for a big nothing. Now, let’s apply this little concept to the way we build roads and plan for Smart Growth. If we have an idea to add order to chaos to improve mobility and access for the most of the most, then we probably have a good idea. If we want to impose our artistic stylings and justify our big department budgets with obfuscation through complication – or if we just get our jollies from making others do as we please – then, just, no.
