WHEN A THING WORKETH,
LET IT NOT BE FIXED.
A faithful chronicle of working things, undone by improvement — sourced, cited, and submitted to a candid world.
❧ A Record of Grievances
Parliament made tea cheaper and received a riot in return
The fix: Parliament passed the Tea Act of 10 May 1773, granting the East India Company — sitting on some seventeen million pounds of unsold tea — the right to ship directly to hand-picked colonial consignees, bypassing London auctions and colonial wholesalers, while retaining the three-pence Townshend duty as quiet proof of its taxing authority.
★★★★★ CatastrophicRead the case → Parliament · Law & OrderParliament fixes one unruly harbour; receives one revolution
The fix: Parliament passed the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Quartering Act — collectively designed to strangle Boston's economy, abolish elected Massachusetts self-governance, shield Crown officers from local juries, and billet troops at will, until obedience was restored.
★★★★★ CatastrophicRead the case →What Wasn’t Broken
We start with the thing that was working fine — boring, dependable, doing its job.
The "Fix"
Then the improvement: bold, expensive, announced with confidence. Usually unrequested.
The Result
And the receipts — what it cost, what broke, and the citations to prove it.