Re: Lawns
Michael Mace wrote:
>
> >Why not tax people who have lawns - double the amount if
> there is one in =
> >front and behind the house?
> >Future generations will wonder at our arrogance - wasting
> water, =
> >fertilizer, oil & gasoline,
>
> Hmmm.
>
> We complain bitterly when homeowner associations and
> neighborhood yard vigilantes try to stop us from gardening
> with drought-tolerant plants. We say they should mind their
> own business and respect our right to landscape the way we
> want to.
>
> Then we turn around and try to eliminate their lawns.
>
> Two sides of the same coin. If we try to force our tastes
> on 'them,' they are sure to impose theirs on us.
>
> I think we should do this through persuasion and gentle
> education, not regulation. If water and fertilizer are
> precious, let's tax them directly and let people make their
> own decisions about how to spend their money.
>
> Mike
Regulating a community, while allowing as much personal freedom as
possible is one of the most delicate and difficult tasks imaginable.
Your solution, of posing the problem (lack of particular resources in
this case) and then allowing people to decide just how they will deal
with their share of it seems to me excellent.
I fear, however, human nature being what it is not everyone will rise to
the challenge in an adult way and only then might more pressure have to
be brought to bear. The difficulty is to find some impartial authority
who will be able to correctly decide what is really essential for the
good of the community and what is not!!!
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand
