Libertine
Gold Member
I wanted to tell a little story about a fish pond. Seems many years ago there was a guy who liked fish. But he soon got tired of running around here and there to catch his fish. So he decided to make his own little fish pond.
Over the years he dug it a little bigger and stocked it with fish. First the fish came from his own immediate neighborhood - fish from the zip code he lived in. But gradually the fish came from 100s of zip codes from Washington State to Washington DC.
As he went along he learned of better ways to catch his fish. It didn't take too long to learn that catching fish that were too small, less than 4", was a waste of time and didn't taste very good anyway. So when a smaller fish bit the hook, he painted it with a luminiscent sign that said "do not catch" before he threw it back.
Life was good. Whenever he needed a little protein he threw in his hook and soon had dinner. As long as he took care of his little pond, treated the fishes right, areated the pond and made sure there was some food for the fish, he had a nice little food supply. In fact, as he got older, he was counting on his little pond as a source of food for the rest of his days.
But some of his neighbors didn't like the fact that there were some fishermen that spent too much time hooking the little fishes under 4". It hurt their feelings to know that little fishes, that weren't very good to eat anyway, were being hooked. Some of them got really upset about it. So they all went to the Mayor and complained and complained about the little fishes being hooked. And the Mayor, being a politician, had a no brainer - lot's of sensitive souls who would vote for him if he would make it illegal to snag the little fishes that didn't taste very good anyway.
So, the mayor and the city council passed a law that said any little fishes that didn't want to be hooked could come to him. All they had to do was to say they were less than 4" in length and the mayor would put their name on a list. Every fisherman had to buy that list, then check every fish before he threw the hook in so the fisherman wouldn't accidently hook a smaller fish. Because, if he did, even by accident, the Mayor would send out a deputy who would collect $11,000 from the fisherman.
Life became not so good. When our pond builder was at a town meeting and some of his neighbors were congratulating themselves on getting the mayor to pass the "do not catch" law, he pointed out to them what it would mean. His neighbors, most of whom had never built a pond themselves, pooh-poohed his remarks. When he pointed out that the price of fish would go up he was told that it cost nothing to measure each fish before the hook was thrown in. When he pointed out that the $11,000 fine for even hooking a 4" fish would encourage poachers he was dismissed as an alarmist. After all, all that mattered was that they no longer had to have their feelings upset by thinking about a 4" fish being hooked.
Our pond builder still has his pond, of course. But now he either has to measure each fish every 3 months or throw his hook in and risk the deputy coming out and taking $11,000 if he even accidently hooks a 4" or smaller fish. Our pond builder had always taken care of his pond and his fishes and had been marking the smaller ones all along anyway as they showed up. You can imagine what he thinks of his neighbors. I believe these neighbors have Bible and somewhere in that it says something about "they know not what they do."
JEH
Over the years he dug it a little bigger and stocked it with fish. First the fish came from his own immediate neighborhood - fish from the zip code he lived in. But gradually the fish came from 100s of zip codes from Washington State to Washington DC.
As he went along he learned of better ways to catch his fish. It didn't take too long to learn that catching fish that were too small, less than 4", was a waste of time and didn't taste very good anyway. So when a smaller fish bit the hook, he painted it with a luminiscent sign that said "do not catch" before he threw it back.
Life was good. Whenever he needed a little protein he threw in his hook and soon had dinner. As long as he took care of his little pond, treated the fishes right, areated the pond and made sure there was some food for the fish, he had a nice little food supply. In fact, as he got older, he was counting on his little pond as a source of food for the rest of his days.
But some of his neighbors didn't like the fact that there were some fishermen that spent too much time hooking the little fishes under 4". It hurt their feelings to know that little fishes, that weren't very good to eat anyway, were being hooked. Some of them got really upset about it. So they all went to the Mayor and complained and complained about the little fishes being hooked. And the Mayor, being a politician, had a no brainer - lot's of sensitive souls who would vote for him if he would make it illegal to snag the little fishes that didn't taste very good anyway.
So, the mayor and the city council passed a law that said any little fishes that didn't want to be hooked could come to him. All they had to do was to say they were less than 4" in length and the mayor would put their name on a list. Every fisherman had to buy that list, then check every fish before he threw the hook in so the fisherman wouldn't accidently hook a smaller fish. Because, if he did, even by accident, the Mayor would send out a deputy who would collect $11,000 from the fisherman.
Life became not so good. When our pond builder was at a town meeting and some of his neighbors were congratulating themselves on getting the mayor to pass the "do not catch" law, he pointed out to them what it would mean. His neighbors, most of whom had never built a pond themselves, pooh-poohed his remarks. When he pointed out that the price of fish would go up he was told that it cost nothing to measure each fish before the hook was thrown in. When he pointed out that the $11,000 fine for even hooking a 4" fish would encourage poachers he was dismissed as an alarmist. After all, all that mattered was that they no longer had to have their feelings upset by thinking about a 4" fish being hooked.
Our pond builder still has his pond, of course. But now he either has to measure each fish every 3 months or throw his hook in and risk the deputy coming out and taking $11,000 if he even accidently hooks a 4" or smaller fish. Our pond builder had always taken care of his pond and his fishes and had been marking the smaller ones all along anyway as they showed up. You can imagine what he thinks of his neighbors. I believe these neighbors have Bible and somewhere in that it says something about "they know not what they do."
JEH
