Here is the first of today's two Modest Proposals © to reform the political process: Campaign Time Reform.

"Campaign Finance Reform" is all the rage among certain people. The theory being that rich people have an advantage in influencing politics not available to the rest of us. Limit the amount of money one can contribute to political campaigns, the theory goes, and government will serve the general good instead of only special interests. I've explained elsewhere why this theory is completely broken, but if we're going to regulate campaign finances, it's only fair to also regulate the time people are allowed to spend on political activity.

Time is money, right? And if having a lot of money is considered an unfair political advantage, why shouldn't, say, having too much time on one's hands also be considered an unfair advantage? Just think about all those people who have nothing better to do with their time and spend hours and hours that most of us don't have so they can attend meetings, ring doorbells, stuff envelopes, or make annoying phone calls on behalf of their candidates? I don't have the time to do very much of that, I have a business to run and kids to raise. Invariably, those who put the time into political activity do so not out of a sense of civic duty (watch out for those who say they do!), but because they want to gain an advantage over the rest of us, who, recall, have other things going on that prevent us from defending ourselves from those who have more time than we do. And that just ain't fair.

Furthermore, having money to spend is usually an indication of talent, industry and productivity. For the most part, people obtain money (except by outright theft) by creating economic value for somebody else. That's a good thing. On the other hand, having a lot of time on one's hands is often an indication that one is indolent, incompetent or unemployable. And why should the least talented and productive members of society have disproportionate influence over the rest of us? Or take retirees, who may well have been productive in their prime and have earned their free time -- why should they get to spend their days conspiring and organizing to confiscate more of the wealth that belongs to those of us who are still working and don't have time to organize and fight back?

Therefore, I propose strict limits on the amount of time one is permitted to contribute to political campaigns, rallies, meetings, etc.. Say an hour or two a week, tops. Just imagine how much less unnecessary government we'd have if people weren't allowed to spend as much of their time agitating for more government!