Check out some pop economics and learn about broken window theory. Then check out Michael Bates’ comments on immigration in Tulsa. Then maybe pop over to the pragmatic programmers comments on software entropy. Then get right back, ya here?

I have lost sleep at night deciding between a future of law versus software. While they might sound totally different, I think of them both as building rule systems to encourage progress. Software is all about automating processes, easing interaction, and protecting resources. Sound a bit like law to you?

But if we have to use automation that encumbers us more than disuse, chafing will ensue. If such easy interaction makes us more distracted and less able to affect our audience, or hear constructive criticism, we might as well cover our ears and shout, “LALALALALALALALA.” And if you waste resources protecting the stuff of others, you might prefer anarchy. The system has to be valuable or it is worthless. Even if this system is worthwhile but you think it is not, people will spend time, money, and words just to get rid of it.

I appreciate our cops following the letter of the law, and the spirit likewise, but if the spirit and the letter suck, please just cut out that part of the system.