Do you remember when babies started to die because formulas were
mixed with toxic substances that thinned milk? It was in China, where the
government doesn't bother to regulate much at all. Remember when the dogs and
cats in the US started to die because pet food was contaminated in China
factories? Remember the sheet rock that killed people?
Yes,
I remember that. I also remember that regulated companies here have put out
tainted products. The compounding pharmacy with the fungus tainted steroid
comes to mind. Nothing is ever going to prevent every accident or even every
act of malfeasance. And should I remind you that the government in China is
much more involved in everyone’s life and business that they are here? I would
not be surprised if the head of the company and others are not still rotting in
a Chinese prison cell or dead.
Saying that government has
no right to regulate companies is to say that the above incidents are nothing
the government should stick its nose into. But most people can clearly see,
without a PhD, that this is *exactly* where the government should get involved,
because only it has the power to make it stick, and since the government is just
us, the people, our representatives, we ask it to do things that will protect
us, our babies and our pets. Etc.
Whoa, back up the chart,
PJ. I did not say the government has no place in regulating companies and their
products. I said, “Government has a place, but this is not it.” That is a
statement within the context of the current discussion about mandating cell
phone reliability. And I stand by that. Government has a place, but it is not
the only or always the best solution. And I believe mandating cell phone
companies is not a good solution because it is easy to see how the free market
can provide an answer should the demand truly exist.
You
are arguing that a company's private interest in making money with interference
is more important than everyone else's private interest in not getting sick or
losing pets and children. ANd that is preposterous.
I would
not be so quick to look down your nose at the profit motive. Stop, look around
you. Almost everything you have was provided because someone had a profit
motive. The car you drive, the toilet you pee in, the food you eat, the
medicine you take, the computer you type on, the clothes you wear, etc. Really,
look around you. Now think about the government being in charge of providing
you all that. Yes, government has a role, but that role can never be to keep
you and your pets absolutely safe. You could regulate everything down to the
size of the eyelet on your lace up shoes, but it comes at a huge cost. We
should not always jump to “there ought to be a law or regulation” whenever we
encounter a problem. Each and every law or regulation takes a bit of our
liberty. We need to consider very carefully each and every one (something that
is simply not done by our legislators and regulatory bodies) before it is
implemented. That doesn’t mean no regulations, but it does mean only the ones
that are absolutely necessary.
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- Err... really?! - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, November 20 2012 @ 02:45 PM EST
- The unregulated compounding pharmacy with the fungus tainted steroid comes to mind. - Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, November 19 2012 @ 07:59 PM EST
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