A law to revive the Good Old Days

 In the Middle Ages, the wool trade made parts of England rich. Flocks filled the fields. Many houses had looms. The fabulous wool churches were built with the wealth.

But commercial goods tend to run in cycles. Bust follows boom, and by the reign of Charles II people looked back on a Golden Age.

In 1666, political leaders decided to Make England Great Again by promoting the wool trade. Parliament passed laws requiring that the dead be buried in woolen shrouds.

The original law had to be amended a couple of times — it was hoped that terrifying fines would force unenthusiastic shroud consumers to comply.

The law was dumb and ineffective. 

The laws being passed today in the United States are dumb. We can marvel at the transcendental levels of stupidity at play.  But we can’t pretend dumb laws are a new thing. This kind of thing has a long history.