Lifting Regulations

Getting rid of government regulations is popular. Should it be? What do we mean by regulations? If it's stupid regulations against having solar panels on your roof, chickens in your yard, or collecting rain water, I'm all for getting rid of those. Maybe that's the sort of thing that people think about when they hear about “excessive government regulations.”

Too often it's stuff like getting rid of regulations that are actually protections. Why should we be in favor of getting ride of regulations that provide us with clean air and water? Who benefits from that? The handful of rich factory owners who pollute do. They get rich, our kids get sick.

How about labor regulations? If you are a small businessman they can be tough to comply with. If you are a working Joe trying to make a living wage, your opinion may differ. Then again, it may not. I'm surprised at the number of workers who would really gain from forming a union yet are proud not to have one. Well good for you, it's much easier for your corporate owners to exploit you. Maybe you are one of the few who benefit from the current system because you are willing to stab your coworkers in the back?

Then there are the regulations that are near and dear to my heart: fire codes. Those codes were written in blood. For example, crash bars on exit doors were mandated because firefighters had to remove all the dead bodies piled up in front of doors that would not open. Most of the fire code is written because people died. I would not be so quick to throw them out.

Are regulations perfect? Heck no. That doesn't mean they should be thrown out willy nilly. Some solid research on why we have them would be in order first. Maybe what we need is better regulations, not none at all.

-Sixbears