All the good things at work (primarily sales stuff) seem to have been hijacked by lawyers who are making sure contracts are valid etc. This of course delays everything by a few weeks. I wonder if lawyers are inevitable – when we finally come across alien civilizations we will find that they too have lawyers checking their every move. I guess that its likely. In any situation where large numbers of people have to trust strangers a system of protections (contracts) will arise and this will need experts to police it.
This is one of the big problems with the free market economy. If it is allowed to run freely it will quickly establish parasitic elements. For example if the fire service was provided by private companies in an unregulated fashion you would either end up with them setting fires (if they where paid per fire put out) or running as a protection racket (if they where paid to look after properties). Either way regulation is needed.
Started reading Feeding Frenzy by Will Self last night. His writing is a joy and made me realise that mine isn’t very good at all by comparison. Despite his showy style (I needed a dictionary 4 times on the first page of the introduction and my vocabulary isn’t bad) he is eminently readable and very funny to boot. Talking of Will Self this is a must read.
Elsewhere in my life I am unable to find my hammer (or saw but I managed without that). I am off to buy another one this lunch time.
Posted by Mark at January 16, 2003 12:40 PM