79-02-A4

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The Official Rules

Transcript All of us can remember various rules or maxims said to govern the way the world works. For instance, "buttered toast always falls to the floor butter side down." Now, an enterprising author named Paul Dockson has published a large and entertaining collection of laws and maxims through the ages. The book is called The Official Rules, and it's published by Delacorte Press. Perhaps the best known of such rules are those called Murphy's Laws. The most famous of the many versions of Murphy's Law are these three: "If anything can go wrong, it will." "Left to themselves, things go from bad to worse." "Nature always sides with the hidden flaw." These, and many others in the Dockson collection, are said to have derived from experimental scientists and, more recently, computer specialists. Quite a few, however, have a lot of relevance to our economic, social and political life. One of the oldest is Gresham's Law, dating back to the 16th century. Sir Thomas Gresham studied the problem of money and exchange, and concluded simply that "Bad money drives out good." Today, in this age of dollar depreciation, Sir Thomas might have added, "governments which print bad money also forbid the use of other money." Speaking of government, there are quite a few rules governing the working of bureaucracy. Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson is said to be the author of Acheson's Rule of Bureaucracy: "A memorandum is written not to inform the reader, but to protect the writer." Anyone with years of experience in the U.S. State Department can certainly be excused for believing that. Another rule of this kind is Smith's Principles of Bureaucratic Tinkertoys: "1. Never use one word when a dozen will suffice. 2. If it can be understood, it's not finished yet. 3. Never do anything for the first time." James H. Boren, who founded the International Association of Professional Bureaucrats, offers three similar Laws of the Bureaucracy: "1. When in doubt, mumble. 2. When in trouble, delegate. 3. When in charge, ponder." Politics supplies quite a few droll laws. James Davidson, head of the National Taxpayers' Union, is credited with observing that "democracy is that form of government where everybody gets what the majority deserves." Former Assistant Attorney General for Legislation Michael M. Uhlmann observes, "when stupidity is a sufficient explanation, there is no need to have recourse to any other." My friend M. Stanton Evans, former chairman of the American Conservative union, is the author of Evans' Law of Political Perfidy. It goes: "When our friends get into power, they aren't our friends any more." The early American stateman John Randolph of Roanoke, embittered after two decades of legislative battles. arrived at Randolph's Cardinal Principle of Statecraft: "Never needlessly disturb a thing at rest." One of my Republican friends up in Vermont, John McClaughry, offers his two laws of public policy: "Politicians who vote huge expenditures to alleviate problems get elected; those who propose structural changes to prevent problems get early retirement." He adds, "Liberals, but not Conservatives, can get attention and acclaim for denouncing liberal policies that failed; and Liberals will inevitably capture the ensuing agenda for reform." But there is hope even for those who think civilization is going down the drain. It comes from Allen's Law: "It is better for civilization to be going down the drain, than to be coming up it." This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 79-02-A4 Production Date 01/19/1979 Book/Page Online PDF Audio Youtube? No
		Added Notes Paul Dockson is actually Paul Dickson. The Official Rules, 2013 edition