Re: Govt Tests on Civilians LEGAL!

mark@unicorn.com
Mon, 25 Jan 1999 05:51:10 -0800 (PST)

Terry Donaghe [tdonaghe@yahoo.com] wrote:
>Certainly no one on this list could be shocked. I'm just surprised
>that the looters actually publish the law that makes it "legal."

Oddly enough, it doesn't surprise me. In my opinion, one of the problems with America is that Americans are in general far too law-abiding; presumably because in most cases bloated authoritarian government is a recent occurence, whereas in Europe it's been in existence for generations. Hence Americans still have some respect for their government whereas Europeans generally treat it as just another obstacle to work around.

Usenet is full of Americans questioning the minutae of government regulations; most Europeans in the same situation just ignore what the government says whenever they can get away with it. In a country where people spend days worrying about the most minute details of tax laws rather than turn tax evasion into a sport, I'm sure many people will accept that if there's a law saying the government can kill the first-born then it's OK.

Mark