Government regulations protect all of us

[Thats my opinion]

A few weeks ago I described how a fictional character, who blustered about keeping the government out of his life, had actually spent his years feeding off a variety of government programs. Among the fifty or so written responses, came several claiming I was describing them, their neighbor, friend or relative. As much as we might want to get the government off our backs and out of our lives, we all live in an interdependent community. My friend in the former article is “Everyman.”

The only American I ever heard about who tried to live an isolated totally independent life, was the young man who traveled to the remote mountains of Alaska, finally seeking refuge in an abandoned bus—where he starved to death. Government is the contract we make with each other to provide an orderly safe way to exist. The more complex the society, the greater dependence we have on each other and on the whole body. And if we are not our brothers’ keepers we are at least out brothers’ neighbors. Every human action is a stone thrown into a still pond, the resulting waves extending in every direction to the pond’s edge. The mark of any civilized complex society is how its people covenant with each other. Government is the living evidence of that covenant. Our nation’s founders first adopted “Articles of Confederation.” But that effort failed to secure what would make for a vital nation. So they then wrote and adopted a “Constitution,” and secured basic individual liberties by attaching a “Bill of Rights.” Thus we agreed to live together in mutual support and trust while respecting personal liberty. Ours may be the world’s best solution to the relationship between individual freedom and inherent interdependence.

My mythical friend, and those of his persuasion, also must depend on a plethora of government regulations to keep them safe. It is true that regulations may constrain the absolute rights of some sectors of American society, basically corporations. Ever since Ronald Reagan conservatives have conducted a war on government regulations. Among other things, they were successful in denuding an important law mandating controls on banks. In 1933 Congress passed the “Glass-Steagall Act,” which legislated the separation of Commercial Banks, Investment Banks and Insurance Companies. These groups successfully lobbied against that law, and in 1999 Congress passed the “Gramm, Leach, Bliley Act,” tearing down the barriers Glass-Steagall had erected. This allowed the development of newly minted lucrative devices such as Credit Default Swaps and the bundling of home mortgages. The result brought America’s economic house crashing down during the last year of the Bush Administration—a collapse from which we have yet to recover. Any effort to strengthen regulatory oversight of the financial sector has been fiercely fought by an army of banking lobbyists, while the biggest bankers have walked away from the debris they created with millions in the form of excess compensation and bonuses.

One of my correspondents reminded me that a complex bundle of other regulations protects all of us, even if each of these barriers has been fiercely fought by corporate interests. Among these safeguards are rules:

• to keep our food clean and safe, and to insure we get what we pay for;

• to prevent the spread of epidemics and other health hazards;

• to prevent industries from sending pollutants downwind;

• to mandate better automotive gasoline mileage;

• to guarantee safe healthy working conditions;

• to ensure safety in the skies;

• to protect children’s bed clothes against fire. . .
and many more.

Conservatives in Congress have blocked President Obama’s every effort to appoint a watchdog on behalf of America’s consumers. While sometimes bureaucrats may be fond of producing unnecessary regulations, many of which need to be examined and eliminated, none of us would want to live in a nation or community without necessary and sufficient critical regulations and regulatory officials. Those who complain ought to thank their lucky stars that they live in a nation which takes seriously their protection and safety, and that of all the people.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. Let me put it this way. I am currently BREAKING UP with my RW boyfriend because of this issue

I will NOT be with someone who is so dumb as to believe that:

(1) Governments must function as corporations
(2) Governments must only engage in a country's defense and other minimal jobs
(3) Governments must not defend the poor, disabled, etc.
(4) Governments must be tiny

[OHdem10]

2. Just a thought. Adam Smith, Icon of Capitalism and Karl Marx, Icon

of Communism both believed Capitalism had to be regulated
to be effective for everyone.