Opus 2025-272: On the Road: More Government Help

If you have driven on the interstate outside of major cities, you have seen the signs telling you what is available at the next off-ramp.  The foundation is gas, lodging and food.  Sometimes they add attractions.  It’s actually very helpful because often the off-ramp comes up before you can see what is there.

We are so used to this at this point that we forget the way in which local business used to show us what they had to offer.  It was called billboards or outdoor advertising.  There are still a few that do this.  If you are into the Buc-ee’s road side stops then you will know that they start telling you 50, 60, 70 miles ahead of time that they are coming up.  On my recent trip there was one sign telling us that the next Buc-ee’s was over 500 miles ahead.

With typical federal arrogance these were frequently removed by Lady Bird Johnson as she tried to beautify America.  Every first lady has a cause, her’s was removing advertising.  She probably improve the vision at certain places, but she certainly made it harder to drive across country.  Into the vacuum created by federal bureaucracy stepped another federal bureaucracy.  Keep in mind that these signs telling you what is available at the next offramp have to be paid for some how and put up by someone and maintained by someone else. What used to be up to local entrepreneurs has become a federal program.

As in most federal programs, they tend to be the most advantageous to the big companies.  I don’t know what it cost to have your name or logo put on the signs but it’s probably the same amount for McDonald’s at is it is for Uncle Joe’s Beanery.  Who gets the biggest advantage?

The nose of the federal camel knows no boundaries. It intrudes in places that you would never think about, including your lunch stop.

homo unius libri