April 13, 2007 6:15PM 

# Substantiating the Libertarian Vision, One Anecdote at a Time 

By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

Yesterday, it was [six seconds to get a “yes](https://www.cato.org/2007/04/12/the-josh-bell-busking-backstory/.)” from a private entity when a government official took eight days, four hours to reach “no.”

Today, “[Why is it that one guy with a laptop can accomplish more in 20 minutes that an army of city officials and bureaucrats can in as many weeks?](http://www.dcist.com/archives/2007/04/13/google_dc_taxi.php)”

While the D.C. Taxicab Commission dithers over issuing [a new map](http://newsroom.dc.gov/show.aspx?agency=ddot&section=2&release=10524&year=2007&file=http%3a%2f%2fddot.dc.gov%2fddot%2flib%2fddot%2finformation%2fmaps%2fdc_taxizone_map.pdf), some guy just went ahead and [made one on Google maps](http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&om=1&z=11&msid=104406116933360209099.00000111de784d41adc80&msa=0).

##### Related Tags 

[Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).