Why is the road to Hell paved with good intentions?

My friends, today we ask the question why. Why is it that the nice, cuddly, goody goody Left leaning bleeding hearted lovely granola crunchers of this world, with all their peace-love-dove intentions, inevitably bring with them corruption, theft and murder? Why is that? That this is so I support with the fact that wherever these people gain political power, crime flourishes. One need only look at Toronto to see it, but the world abounds with examples. The USSR, East Germany, China, Korea, Nazi Germany, etc. New York city. Los Angeles. Washington DC.

However, we are not here to bash the Lefties, we are here asking Why it is so. Once upon a time a good friend of mine, a sage in this sorry world of ours, told me the answer to the question "Why?" is always "Because!". In all due respect to this sagacious answer, I feel it does need fleshed out a bit.

Let us take an example from today. Spokane Washington seems to be filled with good intentioned Gaia worshipers. Nice people who love the furry animals, they decided that phosphated dishwasher soap was harmful to the little bunnies and birdies and seals etc, so it was banned from sale in Spokane. So what happened?

The quest for squeaky-clean dishes has turned some law-abiding people in Spokane into dishwater-detergent smugglers. They are bringing Cascade or Electrasol in from out of state because the eco-friendly varieties required under Washington state law don't work as well. Spokane County became the launch pad last July for the nation's strictest ban on dishwasher detergent made with phosphates, a measure aimed at reducing water pollution. The ban will be expanded statewide in July 2010, the same time similar laws take effect in several other states.

Real estate agent Patti Marcotte of Spokane stocks up on detergent at a Costco in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and doesn't care who knows it.

"Yes, I am a smuggler," she said. "I'm taking my chances because dirty dishes I cannot live with."

Patti Marcotte, peaceful, real estate agent and good person (presumably) is going to considerable effort and expense to circumvent this well intentioned Greenie initiative. Do the Greenies care? Hell no!

Supporters of the ban acknowledge it is not very popular.

"I'm not hearing a lot of positive feedback," conceded Shannon Brattebo of the Washington Lake Protection Association, a prime mover of the ban. "I think people are driving to Idaho."

What should people do instead of driving to Idaho?

The Washington Lake Protection Association has launched a campaign to encourage people to give the environmentally friendly brands a fair chance. The group suggests consumers experiment with different brands or install water softeners to help the green detergents work better.

"Clean lakes and clean dishes do not have to be mutually exclusive," said association president-elect Jacob McCann.

Yes friends, you should suck it up and remodel your plumbing to conform with our good idea. Its for the lake, you know. What are you, stupid? We're helping here!

And there you have it. One bunch thinks they know better, and so they make a rule. Other people don't like the rule, besides which they really don't like being pushed around, so they circumvent the rule. If the rules are drawn strictly enough, an opportunity to make money circumventing the rules is born. Smuggling, in other words. If the state of Washington makes it a crime to possess phosphate detergent, there will immediately spring up a black market in it. Money is a powerful thing. The black market will become large and self sustaining, self protecting.

This taken by itself would be no big deal (except to the Greenies). But unfortunately people willing to break rules for a living tend not to be particular about which rules they break. Along with smuggling comes bribery of officials, the corruption of the democratic process to get more bribes, and plain old crime like assault, theft, robbery, and if there's enough money involved, murder. Smugglers can be violent.

That's why.