The only way to rid ourselves of populists is to require every new law and edict to be scientifically sound. Lawmaking is social programming. Presently, the courts alone are responsible for rolling back bad laws, but every law deserves a rationale with facts to back it up. It requires post-passing measurements. It requires a due date of evaluation-dependent renewal. It requires a projection of intended consequences, and, when those consequences do not manifest, an automated rollback.
In other words, lawmaking should involve research, formal proof, prototyping, beta-testing, extensive documentation, support, reporting, telemetrics and phase-out.
We ask more of our software than we ask of our laws.
Considering how many people are affected by laws, and that laws increasingly become software, we should take lawmaking more seriously.
I will beat this drum until I'm in the ground.
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