Most modern governments seem to be incapable of allowing sensible exceptions to their rules even in instances where the implementation of those rules would be silly unneeded. In one such case, Sweden’s National Housing Board is insisting that a hotel made entirely of ice install fire alarms in accordance with the Board’s rules.
In these highly charged political times, you tend to hear the term “nanny state” thrown around quite a bit. Whether it’s the mayor of a major US city lovingly playing psy-ops with citizens on vices like cigarettes and soda, or an otherwise sane nation keeping its citizens safe from the horrors of accurately depicted street view maps, the general impression is that the government in question doesn’t think enough of its own people to allow them to live out their lives as they choose. And, while a simple stroll down the street might cause me to have some sympathy with their premise, most of us tend not to believe that our governments should be in the business of social-engineering our free choices (even though that’s essentially the business they’re in).
