According to this BBC article, the EU has proposed legislation to favor cyclists in accidents between them and motor vehicles, no matter who is at fault. Outrage has been sparked in Britain, where drivers are innocent until proven to be at fault.

Now, this story doesn't affect us too much over here, because bicycling is still mostly a recreation, not a mode of transportation. The interesting part of the story lies not in the meat of the argument, rather the relationship between Britain and the EU. Similarly, the US is being pressured by the UN to subject our citizens to their regulations. The UN would love for the US to sign on to Kyoto, the International Criminal Court, and other various treaties and legislation. So far we have been able to resist these efforts, but there are many people in this country who would have us subject our citizens to such an organization. Many people don't realize that if an organization like the UN were to gain any sovereignty over our nation, we might as well tear up our constitution.

The entire point for having localized governments is to best represent the will of the people. Your local government is more representative of you, than your state government. Your state government is more representative than the federal government, and so on. For instance, people that live in Philadelphia don't care much about farming. Likewise, a citizen of rural Pennsylvania doesn't care much about inner city problems. The state government should allow local governments to take advantage of economies of scale, and just stick to problems and solutions that are best handled at the state level. Likewise for the federal government. Economies of scale means that every state doesn't need to raise an army, grow corn, or refine oil. Through specialization, they can purchase those benefits from other states or the United States, cheaper than they can produce them independently. To borrow the cliche, the whole should be greater than the sum of the parts.

Problems arise when large entities like the federal government or the UN try to solve people's problems using a one-size fits all solution. People in rural Pennsylvania don't want Philadelphians imposing their will on them, just like Pennsylvanians don't want Californians doing it. Likewise, as US citizens, we shouldn't have Europeans forcing their laws on us.

Remember this the next time the President vetoes some UN resolution, or state representatives vote against a proposal for a new federal law. With respect to Kyoto, its not that the US doesn't want to clean up the environment, its that we don't want the rest of the world telling us how to do it.