If the government was able to control much of anything, it would not have needed months and millions of dollars to track down some salmonella tainted peppers.
I bet that NAIS gained momentum from 911 with Congress wanted to insure security of the food supply. Not being independent and enterprising people, they were clueless about how many people are out there with their small herds and flocks. So they take advice from the "professionals"- you know the people who have large commercial markets. Together the lobbyists and marketing organizations and assigned bureaucracy devised A Plan with the idea that something so simple and effective would just fly through.
Opps-too many small things that could negate the effectiveness of this started coming up- so now the bureaucracy is trying to gather all the loose ends but the loose ends refused to be gathered.
No real conspiracy needed- only the exercise of self-interest by commerical interests with the self-promotion of the agencies in charge. And the greed and corruptablitiy of politicians who only want to look good and feel powerful.
The only entity I can believe moniters every phone call is the telephone company- so they can charge money of course.
Lots of people complain about the ineffectiveness of the government (which of course is not completely true,) but I always think that this, and only this, keeps the power hungry from succeeding. You only have to visit the mail room of any large government office to be firmly convinced they can't manage a "conspiracy" -only in small, mean organizations can do that. Those innoculous looking, small groups can get away with a lot because no one is looking. And you'll only rarely even hear they exist.
It is much more likely that some small, self-important offical will cause a citizen misery through mis-use of the law than any large organized agency ever could. IMO
Forgot to add with all my philosophising, that I was one of the small ends that refused to be gathered. Enertia always wins.
