{"id":1106,"date":"2013-10-21T15:50:45","date_gmt":"2013-10-21T19:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/?p=1106"},"modified":"2013-10-21T15:50:45","modified_gmt":"2013-10-21T19:50:45","slug":"think-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeroaggressionproject.org\/regulation\/think-regulation\/","title":{"rendered":"How to think about regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If not for regulation by <a title=\"The State\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/the-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The State<\/strong><\/a> regulation many people believe companies would run wild, wrecking the environment, and selling us bad food, deadly\u00a0drugs, \u00a0and harmful products.\u00a0It would be silly to claim these things never happen. After all&#8230;.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Not all people are good<\/li>\n<li>People who are mostly good aren&#8217;t consistently good<\/li>\n<li>And sometimes people simply make mistakes, out of ignorance or sloth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But politicians and bureaucrats are people too, and subject to these same failings. <em>Do we really solve the problem of human imperfection by giving one group of imperfect people power over the rest?\u00a0<\/em>To this we might add\u00a0<em>&#8220;Is there any form of human being more imperfect than the politician?&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t think only of the politicians you like. Think also of the politicians you hate. Do you really want <em>them<\/em> to have power over others?<br \/>\nI think a strong case can be made that the worst politicians have done far more harm than the worst business people. After all, the power scales are so vastly different&#8230;.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Politicians and bureaucrats have a monopoly to <a title=\"Initiated Force\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/initiated-force\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>initiate force<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li>They have access to vastly greater resources than even the largest company<\/li>\n<li>They cannot <a title=\"Consumer vs. Voter\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/consumer-vs-voter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>easily be fired<\/strong><\/a>, unlike a business<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>This makes it reasonable to ask&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Can anything other than politicians and bureaucrats regulate how business people behave, and if so&#8230;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>How do these non-state forms of regulation compare to what <a title=\"The State\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/the-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The State<\/strong><\/a> provides?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Consider these answers . . .<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Consumers regulate businesses<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Consumers punish every company that sells a bad product or service<\/li>\n<li>They also spread the word about bad companies to other customers<\/li>\n<li>And many people refuse to do business with companies that harm the environment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This form of regulation is enshrined in the proverb <strong>&#8220;The customer is always right.&#8221;\u00a0<\/strong>And, because of this&#8230;<\/p>\n<h2>Investors and lenders also regulate businesses<\/h2>\n<p>They do this to protect their investments from retaliation by angry customers. Sometimes this regulation involves direct oversight, and sometimes it involves the purchase of insurance, which then leads to&#8230;.<\/p>\n<h2>Regulation by insurance companies<\/h2>\n<p>Unlike politicians and bureaucrats, insurance companies have their own money at stake. This motivates them to regulate the companies they cover. One way they do this is through product-testing using firms like <strong><a title=\"Underwriters Laboratory\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Underwriters_Laboratory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Underwriter&#8217;s Laboratory<\/a>,<\/strong> or <strong><a title=\"NSF International\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/NSF_International\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NSF International<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Legal liability also regulates businesses<\/h2>\n<p>This liability is determined through due process in a court. This differs from The State&#8217;s regulation in a crucial way. State regulation attempts to <strong><em>prejudge<\/em><\/strong> which products and services may be harmful, and to dictate how this danger <em><strong>must<\/strong><\/em> be mitigated, <em><strong>in advance<\/strong><\/em>. This sounds good, but it has serious problems, as I&#8217;ll show below. By contrast, legal liability presumes that a product or service is &#8220;innocent&#8221; until there&#8217;s evidence of harm. This is the commercial equivalent of the principle we know from criminal law &#8212; &#8220;innocent until proven guilty.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>The above points debunk a widely believed myth<\/h2>\n<p>A completely free market would <em><strong>NOT<\/strong><\/em> be devoid of regulation. Instead, it would have <a title=\"Non-state Regulation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/non-state-forms-of-regulation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>multiple forms of regulation<\/strong><\/a>. In fact . . .<br \/>\n<em><strong>It&#8217;s inherently impossible to have a de-regulated society.<\/strong> <\/em>Consumers, investors, lenders, and insurance companies will always take steps to control what businesses do, even if <a title=\"The State\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/the-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The State<\/strong><\/a> does nothing. So&#8230;<\/p>\n<h2>Does The State really have a role to play in regulating business?<\/h2>\n<p>Do we really need politicians and bureaucrats to prejudge whether a product or service is harmful, and dictate how that risk must be mitigated? This depends on how you answer questions that are even more basic&#8230;.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Can you fire politicians and bureaucrats who create defective regulations?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Will politicians and bureaucrats have to personally pay the cost of any harm they cause, the way a business must?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>What do you do if politicians and bureaucrats design regulations to benefit their friends?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These are powerful questions. But they&#8217;re really just another form of our first question&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Do you solve the problem of human imperfection by giving one small group of imperfect people power over the rest?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I say the answer is no.\u00a0The real problem is <strong>not<\/strong>\u00a0how to regulate businesses, but how to regulate politicians and bureaucrats.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They are the monopoly.<\/li>\n<li>Their power to <a title=\"Initiated Force\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/initiated-force\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>initiate force<\/strong><\/a> is inherently <a title=\"Crime\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/crime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>criminal<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li>They have vastly more resources than any company<\/li>\n<li>They are vastly more difficult to control<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In fact, <a title=\"Against Anarchy\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/against-anarchy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The State is essentially anarchistic.<\/strong><\/a> It is regulated by no one.<\/p>\n<h2>In conclusion:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"The State\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/the-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The State<\/strong><\/a> is a monopoly &#8212; regulate it!<\/li>\n<li>Politicians and bureaucrats have only one tool &#8212; <a title=\"Initiated Force\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/initiated-force\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>initiated force<\/strong><\/a>. Remove this power!<\/li>\n<li>Businesses are peaceful and voluntary. Leave their regulation to <a title=\"Consumers vs Voters\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/heuristic\/consumer-vs-voter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>consumers<\/strong><\/a>, investors, competition, and insurance companies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a concrete example of the points made above, please read my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/uncategorized\/upton-sinclairs-the-jungle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">essay about &#8220;The Jungle&#8221; <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1166\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.zeroaggressionproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/rsz_1sinclair_-_jungle_binding.jpg\" alt=\"rsz_1sinclair_-_jungle_binding\" width=\"86\" height=\"126\" \/>by Upton Sinclair<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We hope you decide to adopt and share the concepts described in this article. You can do that right now using Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.<\/p>\n<p>Please also consider subscribing to our free email newsletter using the subscription form in the right-hand column. You&#8217;ll be able to follow along as we work to share the Zero Aggression Principle with all 300 million Americans (and the rest of the world too).<\/p>\n<p>Please also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Click on the \u00a0&#8220;Follow Us&#8221; buttons at the top of the page, above the banner. When you get to our Facebook page click on the &#8220;like&#8221; button and then choose &#8220;get notifications&#8221; and &#8220;add us to your interest lists.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Copyright (c) 2010 by Perry Willis. Permission to distribute this blog post for educational purposes is granted, if done with attribution to the author and the Zero Aggression Project. Permission to use for commercial purposes is denied. You can find a full explanation of our copyright policy <a title=\"Our Copyright Policy\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeroaggressionproject.org\/zap-policies\/copyright-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The market has many natural regulators, while The State is anarchistic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to think about regulation - ZAP - Zero Aggression Project<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to think about regulation -- The market has many natural regulators, while The State is anarchistic.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zeroaggressionproject.org\/regulation\/think-regulation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Think About Regulation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to think about regulation -- The market has many natural regulators, while The State is anarchistic.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/zeroaggressionproject.org\/regulation\/think-regulation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ZAP - 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