While vaguely listening to some radio news, a sound byte stuck out for me about "tightening controls". Now it really doesn't matter exactly what controls, rules or regulations were being tightened or if somebody was calling for tighter controls. It just occured to me that we only ever hear about such things being tightened, never loosened. If our response to every (engineered) crisis is to "tighten" things we'll end up being ratcheted down into a straitjacket where we're not allowed to do anything.

Oh. Wait.

Everything not compulsory is forbidden.