No, not a description of the current situation, but a suggestion.
I'm still not convinced that Anarchy would actually "work". But increasingly, neither am I convinced that it could fail quite as badly as the current system.
See here for the latest examples of mind-bogglingly obscene stupidity from the UK/EU governments:
HM Revenue and Customs loose name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and bank details of 25 million people. In the post.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7103566.stmEU fishing regulations result in fishermen dumping 60% of (high-quality and endangered) fish back in the sea, dead.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7103363.stmArticles in full (better if you follow the links, as the formatting didn't copy very well):
Two computer discs holding the personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16 have gone missing.
The Child Benefit data on them includes name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and, where relevant, bank details of 25 million people.
Chancellor Alistair Darling said there was no evidence the data had gone to criminals - but urged people to monitor bank accounts "for unusual activity".
The Conservatives described the incident as a "catastrophic" failure.
In an emergency statement to MPs, Mr Darling apologised for what he described as an "extremely serious failure on the part of HMRC to protect sensitive personal data entrusted to it in breach of its own guidelines".
MPs gasped as Mr Darling told them: "The missing information contains details of all Child Benefit recipients: records for 25 million individuals and 7.25 million families. "
The chancellor blamed mistakes by junior officials at HMRC, who he said had ignored security procedures when they sent information to the National Audit Office (NAO) for auditing.
Mr Darling told MPs: "Two password protected discs containing a full copy of HMRC's entire data in relation to the payment of child benefit was sent to the NAO, by HMRC's internal post system operated by the courier TNT.
The package was not recorded or registered. It appears the data has failed to reach the addressee in the NAO."
He added: "The police tell me that they have no reason to believe that this data has found its way into the wrong hands.
"The police are not aware of any evidence that it has been used for fraudulent purposes or criminal activity."
Fraud protection
The HMRC has set up a Child Benefit Helpline on 0845 302 1444 for customers who want more details.
The data was sent on 18 October and senior management at HMRC were told it was missing on 8 November and the chancellor on 10 November.
MISSING DATA INCLUDES...
National insurance number
Name, address and birth date
Partner's details
Names, sex and age of children
Bank/savings account details
Mr Darling said banks were adamant that they wanted as much time to prepare for his announcement as possible.
He added: "If someone is the innocent victim of fraud as a result of this incident, people can be assured they have protection under the Banking Code so they will not suffer any financial loss as a result."
Mr Darling said people should monitor their accounts "for any unusual activity".
Chairman resigns
The Metropolitan Police are investigating the disappearance of the two discs and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which monitors HMRC, is investigating the security breach.
Uniformed officers were earlier checking HMRC's offices in Washington, Tyne and Wear.
It is the latest and by far the most serious of a string of missing data incidents at HM Revenue and Customs.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Check your bank statements for odd transactions
Monitor your account if you bank online
Change your account password if it is a date of birth or name
Source: Apacs
How worried should you be?
HMRC chairman Paul Gray resigned earlier after the latest incident came to light.
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said: "Let us be clear about the scale of this catastrophic mistake - the names, the addresses and the dates of birth of every child in the country are sitting on two computer discs that are apparently lost in the post, and the bank account details and National Insurance numbers of 10 million parents, guardians and carers have gone missing.
"Half the country will be very anxious about the safety of their family and the security and the whole country will be wondering how on earth the government allowed this to happen."
'Ancient' computers
He urged the government to "get a grip" and said it was the "final blow for the ambitions of this government to create a national ID database" as "they simply can not be trusted with people's personal information".
Liberal Democrat Acting Leader Vince Cable said it was now the Treasury and not the Home Office that was "not fit for purpose".
CHILD BENEFIT
Part of child benefit form
Available to the parents, normally mother, of every child in UK under 16
Older children in full-time education still eligible
Taken up by almost 100%
It amounts to ?18.10 a week for a first-born child
For subsequent children - it amounts to ?12.10 a week
Timeline: Benefit records loss
"Why does HMRC still use CDs for data transmission in this day and age? The ancient museum pieces it is currently using for computing must be replaced.
"After this disaster how can the public possibly have confidence in the vast centralised databases needed for the compulsory ID card scheme.
"Where does the buck stop after this catalogue of disasters?"
Giving his reaction, the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, said: "This is an extremely serious and disturbing security breach."
Mr Thomas welcomed the Chancellor's announcement of an independent review of the incident by Kieran Poynter of PricewaterhouseCoopers and said he would decide on further action once he has received the report.
"Searching questions need to be answered about systems, procedures and human error inside both HMRC and NAO," said Mr Thomas.
The prime minister's official spokeswoman said Gordon Brown has "full confidence" in Mr Darling. She added that Mr Darling has not offered to resign.
Trawlermen sort through fish
Phil Walsh's crew exceeded their cod quota by June
Jonathan Shaw
Fisheries Minister Jonathan Shaw has agreed that dumping thousands of tonnes of dead fish back into the sea because of EU fishing quotas is "immoral".
He said he supported the view of EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg and would be pushing for quota increases.
The fishing industry has warned it faces ruin because fish caught after quotas are exceeded have to be dumped.
But environmentalists say quotas are necessary to protect stocks, and want to see a change in fishing practices.
40%-60% dumped
European Union quotas strictly limit the amount of fish that vessels can bring back to port, but there is no restriction on the amount of fish they actually catch.
BBC rural affairs correspondent Jeremy Cooke found that boats fishing in the "mixed fishery" of the North Sea often accidentally catch a species or size of fish which is above their quota and have to throw the "discard" back.
The EU estimates that between 40% and 60% of fish caught by trawlers in this area is dumped back into the sea.
Fish are thrown overboard
Dumping 'ruining industry'
Life behind the net
Mr Borg - who is instrumental in setting the laws and limits - described such discarding of fish as "immoral" but said there was no clear solution.
"The problem is when we come to work out the details of how to eliminate discarding but at the same time have sustainable fisheries - that is the big problem."
Mr Shaw said it was an "absolute waste" to throw good quality fish back into the sea.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he would be pushing for an EU cod quota increase as well as looking at technological solutions, such as nets that would catch only certain kinds of fish.
"We have seen a recovery in cod in the North Sea in particular - now that is good news," he said.
HAVE YOUR SAY
We should take back control of British waters. Before the opening up of British waters to EU countries, these problems never existed
Simon Ward, London
Send us your comments
"So that is why we will be pressing the commission at the annual round in December for an increase in cod and hopefully that will help the fishermen."
Scotland's fisheries minister Richard Lochhead agreed that that an increase in the fish quotas was "essential, and justified by the science."
And he claimed his government was "leading the way" on fish conservation with a range of ideas developed with fishermen and environmental groups. These included voluntary closures of fishing areas and independent on-board observers to make sure young fish were not caught and then discarded.
Trawler skipper Phil Walsh told BBC News he had landed all of the cod he was allowed by June this year.
Since then, he has been fishing for prawns and dumping prime whiting, haddock and cod, which would fetch as much as ?13.50/kg on a supermarket shelf.
"I can't describe the feeling really," he said.
"It's your livelihood and you spend your life trying to catch it and then you have to throw it back over the side.
"It's an impossible situation and, unless it is sorted out soon, we will all be finished."
Marine protection
Many Scottish and English fishermen say they have seen a huge increase in the number of cod in the North Sea this year and now want an increase in the quota level for cod and other white fish they catch.
EU FISH QUOTAS
The European Commission's Fisheries Council meets to discuss fishing quotas every December
In 2006, it cut the amount of cod that could be caught in 2007 by between 14% and 20%
This meant UK fishing crews could catch 7,773 tonnes, down from 9,037 tonnes
The number of days cod fishing boats could spend at sea was also reduced by between 7% and 10%
This meant crews with the biggest nets could spend 155-156 days at sea, down from 163 days
However, many environmentalists want to see a total ban on cod fishing
UK fishing in figures
Should EU change policy?
"I feel very bitter because we've been so long trying to protect the cod," said trawler skipper David Mell.
"[We've had] decommissioning, increased our mesh size, we've been through a lot of pain really.... [But] I thought I would never see the day that I had to throw adult cod overboard."
But environmentalists, who have for years been sounding the alarm bell over the decline of North Sea fish stocks, say now is not the time to increase the amount being caught.
They say quotas are essential to ensure spawning stocks are allowed to mature and to breed.
But, like the fishermen, activists such as the World Wildlife Fund's Helen McLachlan agree that throwing dead cod back into the water is not the answer.
Instead, she said, there must be a change in fishing practices.
"Nobody wants discards," she said.
Fish
How trawlers work
"So let's not catch the fish in the first place.
"Let's avoid areas where there are going to be large spawning stocks of fish, let's avoid juveniles... let's use selective gear so [a fisherman can say], 'I will only catch prawns, I will not catch white fish'."
Oliver Knowles, a campaigner for Greenpeace, also believes quotas are not working for the UK's mixed fisheries.
He says the only answer is to stop fishing altogether in 40% of the world's oceans.
"Most importantly, I think you have got to create marine reserves. We don't have any proper protection for the marine environment.
"We are talking about a very large scale - about 40% - and Greenpeace isn't alone in calling for protected areas at around that size."
