Big guys make little guys pay

The fear industry is at it again. Sharpened by doing battle with the Michigan militias, the fear industry is now taking on the Unabomber -- a crazy guy who lies to blow things up, including people. The Unabomber has killed three people and wounded 23 in 16 package bombings since 1978. But he is as shrewd as he is sick, having eluded capture for 17 years while taunting authorities by reappearing from time to time.

After the Oklahoma City bombing, the Unabomber reappeared with a flurry of letters to national media, a demand that The New York Times and Washington Post publish his 35,000-word political manifesto, and a letter two weeks ago threatening to blow up a Los Angeles airliner by July Fourth.

The holiday possed without incident, yet the newspapers, rather than flatly rejecting the Unabomber's demand, are considering his demand to publish his stuff. So much for the courage and independence of the media.

Not to be outdone by the media, the federal government is now pandering big time to the Unabomber's ego. But there is a big difference between a wimpering media and the government: The government has coercive power. When the 800-pound gorilla moves, people can get hurt.

Last week, I observed a small-businessman trying to send a bundle of documents -- about 250 pages, he said. Too many for e-mail. When he arrived at United Airlines, the baggage clerk refused to accept the package -- even after he opened it and showed her that the contents was paper. She, and later her supervisor, said the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered United not to accept any small packages "until this Unabomber mess is cleared up...or unless you have a United account."

In other words, any one of thousands of employees of a big company with an account at United could sned a package, but not a small company without an account.

This silliness was compounded when the clerk told him her refusal to accept his package was for "your safety and convenience." I thought: No. Sorry. It is so United can cover its rear end and so the government can appear to be "tough" on crime. Once again the price of symbolic politics is paid by small businesses and ordinary people.

Cabinet secretaries, governors and mayors never pay the price, as they are chauffeured about town, do U-turns and have packages handled by aides-de-camp. Big company CEOs never pay the price because they have agents who do this kind of "retail" activity. They have no idea what is happening. It's the little guy who pays the price as leaders appear "decisive."

Want to know why contempt for government is twice as high today as it was 20 years ago? Look at the mindless policies of the FAA that require a baggage clerk, looking at 250 pages of paper, to refuse to accept them for shipment because there is a crazy guy out there who wants to blow up an airplane. Everyone knows these bureaucratic edicts bear no relation to the protection we would otherwise appreciate.

Want to know why all large institutions -- especially big business and big labor unions -- are not far behind government in public disgust? Look at how United and other airlines blindly follow irrational directives of government without one protest on behalf of their customers. When the chips are down, these big bureaucraties don't give a hoot about America's 21 million enterprises that don't have company accounts or other prearranged privileges. That's why they are all in trouble with the public.