Twisted, lest you think I'm making this up, here's a true micro-example for you, that in my opinion, will and can be repeated on many different govt. scales:
There was a certain man in a midwest state (I forget which state now), who was out detecting at a certain state park near him, next to a lake. The md'r had hunted this place for years, as had his friends, and no one had ever had a problem before. However, this time, a ranger came up and booted him. The md'r asks "why?". The ranger would only say "because it's not allowed". The dejected md'r didn't argue, and he left.
He went home and decided to study the matter more. So he studied the entire state parks rules, laws, codes, etc... He could find NOTHING saying a person couldn't metal detect (barring obvious historic monuments, or barring silly morphing of extraneous verbage gymnastics). Armed with his new-found information that *technically* he shouldn't have been booted, the md'r decided he was going to rally some friends in solidarity, and fight this booting! (afterall, he enjoyed hunting his particular state park near him).
During the course of the man's research into the matter, he had also discovered that the neighboring state actually had specific wording ALLOWING metal detecting (albeit only on sandy beaches perhaps, and with certain qualifications at others, etc....). The md'r thought to himself: "aha! that's what we need! Clarification specifically spelling this out, like my neighboring state. In that way, it's not left up to the whimsical arbitrary interpretations of some barney-fife ranger"
So the man set about on a letter writing campaign to the state park's headquarters in the state capitol. He objected to his booting, and outlined and cited the neighbor's better system, to show how it would be much better if their state would implement such verbage, so that it's no longer arbitary and capricous. Weeks went by, and he got no response. So he made calls, left messages, and sent follow up letters, all signed by multiple other hobbyists he'd rallied behind his "booting". Still no response
As the weeks dragged on, while waiting for a reply, he decided one day to go metal detecting. He chose another state park (not the same one he'd been booted from) elsewhere. This was also a park that was just generally always known to be open to detecting, where ......... also ..... no one had ever had a problem before. But lo & behold, a ranger came up and booted him. One that he'd even seen before in passing, who had never rendered anything more than a friendly wave in the past! The surprised md'r asked the ranger: "but why??" The ranger pulls a paper out of his pocket and unfolds it for the md'r to read for himself. It was a department memo, passed down to all the rank and file, in all the individual state parks in that state. It told the various staffs to "be on the lookout for md'ing, as this activity is not allowed". And when the md'r got to the bottom of the memo, guess who it was signed by Twisted One?? The very top official that the md'r had been soliciting in State capitol headquarters!!
Do you get it? The md'r certainly did in a heartbeat! He realized right then and there that he had effectively just got EVERY single state park, in his state, put off limits now! Do you get it? True story! The man wished he'd just left "good enough alone" and just avoided the one first ranger, or that one park, etc....
So please, take this story to heart. I know you think the "sky is falling", but believe me, while I'm not saying the show is a "good thing", please don't fall prey to the psychological trick of "projection" & "self-fulfilling prophecies".
