In this second volume of the series, the princess visits a land where rulers have regulated everything in order to guarantee that no suffering or inconvenience ever occurs. You need a permit to go out on the street and walk on the sidewalk, you can’t eat your food in a restaurant until it has been passed by a government inspector. You even need a permit to turn the water on and off. The result is a country laden with suffering and inconvenience, and instead of appreciating their government for all it tries to do for them, the inhabitants are mad at it! In this volume, the theme of alternatives to government is raised for the first time. Fleeing from the oppressive government, the princess temporarily takes refuge with some rebels who espouse questionable, but provocative, ideas about doing without government.
As with the other volumes in this series, Payne uses humor to raise important theoretical questions. The visit to Mandaat leaves the reader wondering what is the purpose of regulation? Is it to actually fix things, or to persuade a distant, inattentive public that public officials care? And once one starts down the road of regulating to limit danger and inconvenience, where does one stop?
(55 pages, illustrations, published in 1994) ORDER HERE
In this second volume of the series, the princess visits a land where rulers have regulated everything in order to guarantee that no suffering or inconvenience ever occurs. You need a permit to go out on the street and walk on the sidewalk, you can’t eat your food in a restaurant until it has been passed by a government inspector. You even need a permit to turn the water on and off. The result is a country laden with suffering and inconvenience, and instead of appreciating their government for all it tries to do for them, the inhabitants are mad at it! In this volume, the theme of alternatives to government is raised for the first time. Fleeing from the oppressive government, the princess temporarily takes refuge with some rebels who espouse questionable, but provocative, ideas about doing without government.