No government regulatory agency can be trusted; ever.

[originalpckelly]

I know that sounds like a very broad statement to make, but I'll give you just one reason why that's true:

Republicans.

That's it. They'll sell their souls out to the highest bidder. Government regulation is never safe with Republicans in charge, and while I hate to admit it, they will always find a way to sneak back in, just like all vermin do.

That's why we need consumer protection that derives its just powers from the consumers.

We the people have the power to buy or sell whatever we choose. We may need a particular type of product, but we can always choose which brand to buy.

That's how we're going to do it. We're going to boycott one company at a time until the following demands are met by that company. Only when that happens will we move on to boycotting another company, and lift the boycott off of the previously targeted company.

The demands are as follows:
1. Every single ingredient/material should have its point of origin listed.

For example, if a product contains wheat gluten from China, it would have to say that on the package. If a company can't tell us where its product's ingredients/materials come from, then we are going to refuse to purchase that product until they can find out. If the ingredients/materials in a product come from so many places it would not be feasible to list it on the packaging, then a bar code should be included on that product, to give the consumer the opportunity to scan it in the supermarket/other store(s) and find out where it came from. If that isn't feasible, some other type of code should be placed on the product so that a consumer may search an easy to use database on the internet to find the points of origin for a product's ingredients/materials. A consumer owned inspections program should verify that all the information in this database is accurate. If a company places false information in this database, then they should be subject to a civil penalty. This can be done through requiring each company that registers its products in the database to sign a contract, and by including falsifying an entry in the database as a breach of contract subject to a stiff penalty.

2. Each and every ingredient/material in a product must be tested for safety before we'll agree to buy it.

It must be tested by a consumer owned and operated lab that is only interested in protecting consumers. All final products should also be tested to determine whether or not they're safe as well. If this demand is not met, consumers will refuse to buy the product until the demand is met. A seal shall be placed on every product that complies with this demand to ensure that the consuming public knows they are buying a safe product. Any company that falsely places this seal on a non-compliant product should be subject to civil penalties for doing so. This could be done through trademarking the seal, and it would require no alterations to the law.

3. All products should be produced in sound working conditions by workers making a living wage.

A consumer owned inspections program should verify that these conditions exist. No product should be made in the absence of a consumer employed inspector. Another seal shall be placed on every product in compliance with this measure, and as before a civil penalty shall be leveled against any company that infringes on the trademark by falsely placing it on an unsafe product.

There's the plan, like it?

[originalpckelly]

1. OK, one recommendation, but no reply?

:rofl:

I should say this is all about separation of powers. You see, when the powers of the economy and the government are combined, then it is easier for someone in either power structure to control the other.

This is what's happening in our nation, it's the theoretical reason communism can't work.

We need separation of powers in a larger context, just like we need separation of powers in our government.

[Rex]

2. Never going to happen, nice idea though.

Unregulated capitalism will destroy the human race.

[originalpckelly]

3. It's consumer regulation. The people are the basis of it...

just as the people are the bases of it when it comes to government regulation. The only real difference is that there is separation of powers. George Bush wouldn't be able to fuck up the regulation. The Republicans in general wouldn't be able to fuck it up.

[Rex]

6. True, but it seems this country likes cutthroat capitalism.

Far better than sensible regulatory policies. Just look at the crumbling of our federal infrastructure. Reason? Unregulated markets. They loved it under Reagan and though WE do supposedly run things, WE don't write the laws, rich people do.

They also take money from companies that promote zero regulation, dems and repukes alike. It is part of the system. Grease palms, get favors, screw over millions of people. Wash, rinse, repeat. Year after year after year.

They're in charge. Running the show. Making decisions for us. Profiting from their job and the ties that go with those titles. Billions for corporations; what is the price of gas again? Over and over.

[stillcool]

4. It seems to me that the global 'free' market...

owned and controlled by the few, call the shots. The U.S. government is a subsidiary.

[originalpckelly]

5. Yes, and that's why we the people have to do this.

We can too, nothing I've said here would be unduly burdensome. We could just stop buying one brand of a product, and then buy another. We'd all boycott that one brand until they caved to our demands.

They can't make you buy a particular brand, when it comes to most products.

[lvx35]

7. Its good to hear this type of thinking

I've thought this sort of stuff too, you're right the power must come from us. But in order to have all this information available about products, that requires an open society, where other people can see what others are doing: Transparency. But just TRY to get conservatives to bite that one; the powers that be are TERRIFIED of this concept...This is why the shitstorm against George Soros really started, his advocacy for openness.

Their fear is rooted in fact, information technology has taken us to the point where a truly transparent world is really possible, but the egalitarian aspects mean their downfall, so they are desperately trying to reshape it into a world cowed by surveillance technology and misinformation directed at the American People. (See Tillman Lynch fiasco)

[meldroc]

8. What this government needs is transparency.

The government regulatory agencies are there to police our various industries. But for that to work, we have to answer the age-old question "Who watches the watchers?" The answer is we do. We the people have to watch the government to make sure they're doing their job, and in order to do that, we need transparency. We need to see everything our government is doing with our tax dollars.

Transparency is exactly what people like Bush and Cheney and co. hate, so when they got to call the shots, transparency was replaced with secrecy. Like Nixon, they put up walls, hide their actions, and tell us it's all in the name of national security. It's not. Security's got nothing to do with it. It's cover for crime. They commit crimes, then declare the crimes to be state secrets, so they can throw us in jail for trying to catch them in the act.

It's high time we bring back transparency.

[fed-up]

9. I already boycott processed foods, much simpler to just buy whole foods-organically/locally grown nt