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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Here's a sad reality—free markets will not survive if they are made genuinely, 100% free. If there's no regulation in the system then eventually, somebody will win, and at that point freedom goes out the window. You'll have something along the lines of LexCorp or the Shinra Corporation that has a monopoly on everything and strangles any opposition that tries to get started in what they now see as their private preserve. This isn't hyperbole or fear of some vague, dystopic sci-fi future talking either—as any historian of the 19th and 20th century can tell you, prior to government regulation becoming a thing, company towns were a very real problem with genuinely destructive consequences for anyone who had the bad luck to live in one. If you've ever heard the folk song "16 Tons", it's all about a company town and the agony of working in one.
When the state doesn't control an aspect of life, that aspect of life doesn't become a utopic paradise, free from all control. Instead the strongest nonstate actor steps into the void and takes over.
Oh, bother.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
While an argument can be made that a lot of regulations do genuinely need pruning due to being obsolete, one can't forget that most of them exist in the first place because of how fucked up things were before they were put in place and enforced.
Would that it were so simple.
The impetus for regulation reform is usually driven from an ease-of-doing-business standpoint, rather than an "Is this regulation helping people standpoint." When the regulation is pruned, it turns out that — surprise! — it was actually important, and now some corporate warband is pillaging the country and victimizing <insert vulnerable demographic here>.
edited 7th Jul '17 8:37:30 AM by CrimsonZephyr
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
In other news, apparently Pence can't read signs.
Even the idea that some of the regulation is obsolete is potentially dangerous thinking—after all, rules against something are only obsolete so long as no one is doing them, and if they're made legal again you might be unpleasantly surprised at how many companies proceed to restart on that behaviour.
edited 7th Jul '17 8:46:45 AM by AmbarSonofDeshar
Oh, bother.
...![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
Yeah, now that you mention it, I can't help but imagine someone suggesting that a certain "obsolete" regulation be removed because they or their cronies already have a plan in mind to exploit the resulting loophole.
edited 7th Jul '17 8:52:58 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
It's a sad reality that it only takes one creep to ruin it for everyone else.
Apparently the Trump Putin meeting is going way over schedule, its been 2 hours and they are still talking...this is probably bad, not sure how bad though.
I guess paying homage to the Tsar takes a while.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Well that's disturbing, I know that Trump isn't literally a Russian puppet but sometime it's hard to keep that in mind.
edited 7th Jul '17 9:25:25 AM by Fourthspartan56
"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn
Lost in Space
The drive to remove "obsolete" regulations comes from much the same psychological paradigm as not vaccinating your kids. The system works based on herd immunity: the few bad apples don't have much impact and are quickly dealt with. Take away the source of protection and there's polio again, killing thousands of kids. Or Victorian-era factories, take your pick.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Field Marshal of Cracked
x6 you mean like how the Tory's here viewed various fire and safety regulations as "obsolete' and "getting in the way of business"?
Jupiterian Local
The problem with the whole "small government" thing is that no one wants "big government" just for the sake of having more government. Basically everyone agrees that government should be as big as it needs to be in order to accomplish its duties and no bigger, so the "big government" vs "small government" thing is flawed to begin with.
Where the disagreement is is what we think the government should be doing. Everyone except hardcore anarchists will agree that the government should have a military and a justice system at the very least. Most people except extreme lassez faire adherents will agree that the government should also regulate the free market in order to ensure that it stays free (which means breaking up monopolies and preventing anticompetitive practices).
After that things start getting fuzzy. But you can have reasonable conversations about it. Should the government get involved in issue XYZ? We can discuss the pros and cons of that. But "small government" vs "big government" is a non-distinction. No one actually wants "big government", so saying you want "smal government" doesn't actually mean anything.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Would that it were so simple.
The United States is a big country with a deep economy. To call for anything less than a big government is ludicrous.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
It's always a question of "How big is big enough?"
"No one wants big government," except those who understand how it functions, and understand how it needs to function. (Well — plus those who are looking to pad those numbers a bit, whether for their own profit or for their comrades.)
Honestly, no one wants a too-small government either — it would break the social contract, if you pay taxes to support, say, the fire department, just to learn it's one overpaid fellow who looks after three counties all by himself. Unless, again, someone stands to personally benefit from it.
Field Marshal of Cracked
(looks around) I want big government....
advancing the front into TV Tropes
Cape Malleum Majorem
The distinction is between "just big enough and no bigger than it absolutely needs to be," and so big that it controls and regulates stuff that government has no business sticking its nose into.
What stuff that might be, is largely a matter of opinion, hence the never-ending debates...
This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
Oh, bother.
Yeah, your gov't isn't so much a small gov't as it is a badly malnourished gov't that desperately needs cash infusions everywhere.
It often depends on how much it is affecting your wallet.
edited 7th Jul '17 10:05:35 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
Figure of Hourai
Would that it were so simple.
Don't say it like that. You can't have a big government without big talk.
"I WANT BIG GOVERNMENT"
edited 7th Jul '17 10:26:38 AM by CrimsonZephyr
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Cape Malleum Majorem
Often, but not always. Witness the various attempts to legislate morality, religion, what language should be spoken, etc.
edited 7th Jul '17 10:45:44 AM by pwiegle
This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
Who believes that? I can't imagine anyone who wants "big government" for its own sake.
538: The Trump Administration’s Own Data Says Obamacare Isn’t Imploding
http://53eig.ht/2sLmSe0
Welp. Wrap it up guys, guess that's case closed!
New Survey coming this weekend!
Cape Malleum Majorem
"Nyet, Tovarishch! I did not do it. I had Comrade Boris do it for me."
I'm sorry to hear that.
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