One of the best aspects of the work I do is talking to people about current events. In the end each person has his own opinion and, I do not hesitate to give my own view. So here goes a little entertainment.....
There has been much in the news about the good and bad of regulation. Well...... no doubt some regulation is absolutely foolish and wasteful. You have to realize that the core of most regulation is needed and good. Yet when our legislature(s) get around towards passing new regulation we seem to have a bad habit of passing these piecemeal bits and pieces of regs. and laws, that get added on. After a while these add-ins, if you will, become costly, complicated, burdensome and further over time might not even make sense. Some simply are outdated as the times and our economy have changed. Some conflict with one another, for example a state against federal regulations. Further, there are layers of rules and regulations for the same activity. You could have local city regulation, state regulation, federal regulation all layered to the point where compliance is very costly and confusing. Worst yet is regulation that is on the books and may have a designated government agency, is fairly clear yet, it does not get enforced. At least as long as you don't get caught. All of these inefficiencies give rise to the public's perception that regulation is a waste of time and taxpayer money. And of course many jump onto that way of thinking because........ it's an opportunity to rid yourself of bad medicine.
Donald Trump recently came out and called China our enemy. This is a smart man; that would be difficult to deny. He backed his claim with issues like( I am not quoting him) , violating human rights, poor working conditions, pollution, stealing patents, price dumping, copyright infringements, violating privacy laws, hacking into computers, jailing a Nobel Peace Prize winner, currency manipulation, etc., etc. Without getting into the politics of whether China is our enemy,...... it suddenly came to my attention. China's embrace for the "capitalist ideal" is what we might have in this country if capitalism was practiced with total abandon. If we had no rules and regulations and it was truly a free market, a wild west of profiteering. If the rich and powerful were the only consideration. (i.e., big business) If we would follow the strict rule of "caveat emptor" instead of having any sense of fairness. Considering the bad things that do happen even with regulation (after three years of recession) ................Good God what a scary thought!
I have to admit, we could stand a good house cleaning to get things back on track. Then again, as I think of health care reform......should I be fearful of what I wish for?
No comments:
Post a Comment