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by Mel Griffith
If anyone has any doubts that bureaucrats are totally devoid of common sense and focused on nothing but power, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's approach to the wild hog problem ought to make them vanish. After years of protecting wild hogs, the agency has discovered something that everybody else has known for decades, namely, that wild hogs are a dangerous pest. They are a danger to crops because of damage, and to livestock, because of disease. Having made the discovery that they ought to be eliminated, the logical course of action would be to say that anybody who wants to kill a wild hog can do it anywhere and anytime they can. But the first loves of bureaucrats are regulations, permits and controls. Consequently, it takes pages of regulations to specify just who can kill a wild hog, what hours of the day they can do it, what days of the year they can do it, what permits are required, and what reports must be made, and what exemptions from the rules can be granted. Its all about bureaucratic control. It is obvious that the rules are unnecessary, and for the most part, counterproductive to the stated goal of eliminating nuisance hogs. Why on earth should you need a permit to do something the government already wants done anyway? It appears that the sole purpose of this maze of regulations, permits, reports, and special exemptions from the rules is to justify jobs for bureaucrats. And keep in mind, this is all about what landowners will be permitted do on their own land to protect their own property. Why should the government be involved at all?
It seems that our every activity is now subject to creeping government control. Everything we do, from choosing a light bulb on up, is subject to government intervention. All these rules have been enacted for the "public welfare," but in truth most are mainly for the welfare of bureaucrats and the special interests that use the government to take advantage of others. It is time that our elected officials, both state and federal, reined in runaway regulations and regulators. We should pay attention in the next election to what candidates propose to do about our out-of-control regulators and judges.
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