Re: [OT] Politics, was: Leopard - only a minor revision

[ZnU]

In article
<kurtullman-66EC15.16453119102007@032-478-847.area7.spcsdns.net>,
Kurt Ullman <kurtullman@yahoo.com> wrote:

> In article <znu-12B992.16361119102007@news.individual.net>,
> ZnU <znu@fake.invalid> wrote:
>
> >
> > One can't, of course, reasonably legislate on the basis of what one
> > finds "icky".
>
> Of course one can. Tax law is pretty much all made up of what enough
> legislators find icky, which they then try to limit by modifying the
> economics. A lot of regulations are based on the icky factor as much as
> any kind of science. Zoning laws are built on keeping the icky out or at
> least segregating it.

If you're talking about zoning laws regarding e.g. adult video stores,
those are typically struck down by courts if it can't be demonstrated
that they serve a legitimate public interest, like preventing harm to
minors or reducing crime.

If you're talking about zoning laws regarding where polluting industry
is built, there's more at work there than merely people finding such
industry "icky". There are actual health issues.

Anyway, I'm not saying there's no legislation on the basis of what
people find icky. I'm just saying that's not a particularly *reasonable*
basis for legislation in most cases.

--
"More than two decades later, it is hard to imagine the Revolutionary War coming
out any other way."
--George W. Bush in Martinsburg, W. Va., July 4, 2007