{"id":257,"date":"2014-10-05T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-05T20:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/from-the-library-the-rule-of-nobody-saving-america-from-dead-laws-and-broken-government-by-philip-k-howard.html"},"modified":"2015-02-26T23:18:49","modified_gmt":"2015-02-27T05:18:49","slug":"from-the-library-the-rule-of-nobody-saving-america-from-dead-laws-and-broken-government-by-philip-k-howard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/from-the-library-the-rule-of-nobody-saving-america-from-dead-laws-and-broken-government-by-philip-k-howard.html","title":{"rendered":"From the library: The Rule of Nobody; Saving America from Dead Laws and Broken Government, by Philip K. Howard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Boy, this is a downer of a book \u2014 because the subtitle isn\u2019t really accurate. \u00a0Howard tells us what\u2019s wrong, in depressing detail, but doesn\u2019t really have believable solutions. \u00a0Oh, sure, he tells us what should be done to fix things, but doesn\u2019t inspire confidence that those fixes will happen \u2014 because too many people benefit from the status quo.<\/div>\n

Here\u2019s his basic argument:<\/p>\n

America is broken, because we have moved from legislating and regulating based on general principles to instead regulations which spell out requirements in great detail but miss the big picture. \u00a0What\u2019s more, the \u201crule of nobody\u201d means that, once these regulations have been set forth, no one takes responsibility for making the system work. \u00a0And the effect of all of this is to lose a sense of moral action and leadership. <\/p>\n

Here are some of the specific examples that Howard gives to illustrate the problem:<\/p>\n

He starts with the Bayonne Bridge in New Jersey, where the Port Authority had determined in 2008 that, in order to make the port of Newark usable by the \u201cpost-Panamax\u201d ships after the Panama Canal-widening is completed in 2015, the bridge clearance needed to be increased from 151 to 215 feet. \u00a0They determined that, in order to avoid a $4 billion new-bridge construction cost, they could simply raise the existing bridge. <\/p>\n

But as of 2014, construction hasn\u2019t started, due to endless review requirements and lawsuits, even though there was no impact on the environment because it was a change to the existing bridge \u2014 but the environmental groups objected because of the simple fact that success would mean that the Newark area would grow its economy. \u00a0On top of this, there was no \u201cchampion\u201d for the project, no federal agency willing to take responsibility as the designated \u201clead agency.\u201d <\/p>\n

Or the case of a community soup kitchen which shut down in 2011 after serving meals for 26 years without incident. \u00a0You can guess the reason: \u00a0food was prepared in volunteers\u2019 homes, which the health department deemed unacceptable because they couldn\u2019t confirm that the food-prep conditions were sanitary.<\/p>\n

The aspect of detailed rules that is most destructive of freedom and of regulatory purpose \u2014 worse even than unpredictability, arbitrariness, and distortion of goals \u2014 is that rigid dictates prevent people from dealing with the infinitely complex circumstances of real life. . . The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 was exacerbated by safety mechanisms that didn\u2019t fit the crisis. (p. 40)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0Consider nursing homes: \u00a0in most countries, they\u2019re regulated by a set of general principles. \u00a0For instance, following a reform in 1988, Australia has a set of 31 outcome-oriented standards. \u00a0In the United States, it\u2019s thousands of detailed regulations from dictating everything from the temperature of the food (held at 140 degrees before serving, and not less than 115 degrees when served) to windowsill height (not greater than 3 feet above the floor), which themselves produce a rules-following culture at the expense of actual patient care. <\/p>\n

Sleeping residents were wheeled into activities so that a home could count them as \u201cparticipating,\u201d even though the sleeping residents degraded everyone else\u2019s enjoyment of the activity. \u00a0In response to a regulation that required pictures on the wall, a common practice in Illinois was to tear pictures out of magazines and slap them onto walls with tape prior to inspections. \u00a0(p. 48)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0In another study, it was the patient aide who excelled at complying at the regulations that ruled the roost, even though she was mean and bullied the other workers and the patients themselves. <\/p>\n

Howard says,<\/p>\n

Rules change human values. \u00a0The supremacy of the organizational system trumps right and wrong, putting a cloak of legitimacy around people whose conduct is antisocial or even cruel. \u00a0(p. 80)
. . .
To support our freedom, the boundaries of law must support choices that are reasonable and fair. \u00a0That requires judges and officials to assert those values, not abdicate their responsibility to people who use law for self-interest or self-aggrandizement. \u00a0(p. 81)\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addition to empowering people to act immorally, \u00a0Howard says, \u201cBureaucracy disempowers people from acting morally.\u201d \u00a0Perhaps the most famous recent example was the lifeguard who was fired for rescuing a drowning man \u2014 because he was outside his designated zone on the beach. \u00a0Another instance: \u00a0an Iraqi working for the army applied for asylum and his application was delayed for one bureaucratic reason after then next, no one really caring, until it was too late \u2014 \u00a0he was beheaded. \u00a0Another example: \u00a0a woman collapsed at an assisted living facility. \u00a0Protocol stipulated that they then wait for help to arrive, so no one, no one<\/i>\u00a0was willing to follow the 911 operator\u2019s request to attempt CPR. \u00a0And when the paramedics arrived, it was too late. \u00a0Another example: \u00a0firefighters refused to rescue a drowning man because they weren\u2019t properly certified for water rescue and didn\u2019t want to risk legal liability.<\/p>\n

America is losing its soul \u00a0Instead of creating legal structures that support our values, Americans are abandoning our values in deference to the bureaucratic structures. \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Depressed yet?<\/p>\n

Howard then talks about our government.<\/p>\n

He cites the fact that, when the WTO ruled that our cotton subsidies violated free-trade agreements, and imposed trade sanctions, Congress chose, not to end the cotton subsidies, but to pay Brazilian cotton farmers. <\/p>\n

Congress has essentially abdicated its responsibility, wholly neglecting to fix obsolete laws. \u00a0Special education now consumes 25% of the total K-12 education spending due to open-ended special-ed laws. \u00a0We\u2019ve all heard recitations of the 82 teacher-training programs, 79 renewable energy programs, 16 programs teaching personal finance, and so on. \u00a0The red tape in starting a business is far greater than places like the Netherlands and Germany. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t end. \u00a0The weatherproofing program in the stimulus bill weatherproofed very few homes because government agencies had to spend thousands of hours calculating \u201cprevailing wages\u201d for \u201cweatherproofers,\u201d not an existing wage classification. \u00a0And politicians are more interested in partisan advantage than fixing the system \u2014 and would rather not, if they would have to share credit with the other party. \u00a0At the same time, Congress doesn\u2019t even legislate any more \u2014 they don\u2019t understand how government works, they\u2019re clueless as to the impact of their legislation; that\u2019s all left to the staffers.<\/p>\n

What are his solutions?<\/p>\n

His two major proposals are, first, simplified legal codes, equivalent to the Uniform Commercial Code after World War II, and, second, automatically sunsetting all laws \u201cwith budgetary impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, his book reminded me of a book at the library recently on \u201chow to fix Illinois\u201d \u2014 full of nice suggestions for good government but nothing on how to fulfill the basic prerequisite, how to get officials in power who care about good government in the first place, which is not as easy as it seems, when existing seats have been so carefully gerrymandered. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boy, this is a downer of a book \u2014 because the subtitle isn\u2019t really accurate. \u00a0Howard tells us what\u2019s wrong, in depressing detail, but doesn\u2019t really have believable solutions. \u00a0Oh, sure, he tells us what should be done to fix things, but doesn\u2019t inspire confidence that those fixes will happen \u2014 because too many people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,193],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-from-the-library","tag-legal-reform"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom the library: The Rule of Nobody; Saving America from Dead Laws and Broken Government, by Philip K. 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