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Texas vs New Hampshire -- Banned plants
Hi all,
This is not a political forum, so forgive me for responding to a couple
of comments, mostly those of Karen. It is important to see accurately
what the process is, when we plant folk are impacted by irresponsible
laws. The NH example sounds like it could be one of those.
A law or regulation can have some obvious and also some hidden
motivations. Conservation of a natural resource is a perfectly valid
one, but more often it becomes just an excuse for something else.
Preservation and/or expansion of a regulatory empire often works
hand-in-hand with special interests trying hard to get bypassed in a
perceived problem area. I'm sure that BOAT (Boat Owner's Acting
Together, or the NH equivalent) is a lot better organized and more
politically savvy than your LFS and the plant-loving aquarists. It's not
easy to track the influence behind such laws, but I would bet that
several yacht clubs and some boat-owners' organizations greeted it with
glee.
The *purpose* of the law probably had nothing to do with introduction of
plants. They had already been introduced, dammit! It most likely gave
some high-level state administrator a chance to expand his kingdom,
almost without limit, and it kept the government off the backs of the
guilty. So what else is new?
Don't try to fight it or object, until you can identify what the purpose
behind the original legislation really was. Go after the real enemy,
while fighting to actually preserve our environment with enforcable and
sensible rules (Texas style? IDK.).
Your best ally in this kind of situation is often the poor regulatory
working troops who usually are highly motivated to do a good job. They
can often give you a lot of insight into where the real pressures are.
Befriend them and make sure they understand that you share their
motivations for a better earth. Get the inside rumors and whispers that
don't make the media. Find out what their boss is influenced by.
If you are informed, you will scare the pants off of your legislator,
when you do go to complain. He assumes (usually correctly) that you are
dumb as hell and totally fail to grasp "the big picture." Enlightening
him can be most gratifying. :-)
The least thing you can do, by this, is learn something about your state
and how it operates.
Wright
PS Is my .sig showing, again???? ;-)
--
Wright Huntley, Fremont CA, USA, 510 494-8679 huntley at ix_netcom.com
"Subvert the dominant paradigm!"