Are You Over Regulated?
I often talk about the five great inventions man has produced. Those five are the automobile, flight, electricity, telephone, radio and TV.
How many of these great inventions are regulated or controlled by government?
Answer: All of them.
Definition of Regulation
One definition of regulation is, “Regulation creates, limits, constrains a right, creates or limits a duty, or allocates a responsibility.”
Another definition from Dictionary.Com is, “a law, rule, or other order prescribed by authority, especially to regulate conduct.”
According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), “Federal Regulations Take $1.8 Trillion Bite Out of US Economy.”
That’s a pretty big bite. Are all those regulations really necessary?
For a time Montana had no speed limit. Was it the end of the world?
Most people did drive responsibly and obeyed the unwritten regulation of “reasonable and prudent” driving.
Just because there’s no regulation is not an open invitation to abuse it.
How Regulated Is Your Life?
There are two kinds of regulations. Legal or lawful regulations are those forced on us by law or other controlling body, and other regulations are those that we place upon ourselves in the form of personal responsibility.
Some Forced Regulations:
- Income Tax
- Speed Limits
- Drinking Age
- Banking Regulations
- Product Labeling
- The Eight Words I Can’t Say On The Radio
Regulations We Place On Ourselves
- Work Hours – We take jobs that have specified work hours
- Regular Exercise – going to the gym or health club — or not
- Types of Food We Consume – healthy or non-healthy
- Parental Control of Children – use of the car, curfews, TV viewing, computer, texting, and video games
- Social Etiquette – How we conduct ourselves with others in public and online.
Obviously those are not all the regulations in our lives. However, it does give you an idea of how much, or how little control you have in your life.
Problems With The Definitions
The parts of both definitions above that give me pause would be “constraining a right,” and “regulating conduct.”
I suppose that “constraining a right” would be, in spite of the First Amendment, that I couldn’t yell “FIRE” in a crowded theater. But I guess I could in an empty one.
When does “constraint of a right” become elimination of that right? Such as the eight words I can’t say on radio.
They can say every single one of them on satellite radio.
Why can’t I say them? I would probably not say them, even if I could, but it would be because of the way I was brought up — not some FCC regulation.
Some Final Thoughts
I know we can’t have a totally free society where “anything goes.” But I also think about how much control of my “conduct” I should permit — and by whom?
Or, how many of my rights, “need to be constrained?”
Are all those regulations costing you and me $1.8 billion dollars yearly really needed? I think we may be overpaying.
Is your life, your conduct, or your rights being over regulated??
If so — How?
Comment below.