Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to The operation of the free market IS public policy.

Indeed it is...
Donald — (archived)

...and an unregulated free market would be bad public policy. Fact is, its the presence of government regulatory policy that groups like Underwriters Labs exist. For example, fire safety systems used in public buildings are required by government regulation to be tested and certified by labs like Underwriters. And labs like Underwriters are certified by government regulators as having the skills, expertise and track record to conduct these tests. Its these kinds of checks and balances that our safety depends upon. The average citizen depends upon the fact that these public and private institutions are doing their job together everytime you enter any school, stadium or skyscraper. You don't have to look yourself for the UL label before entering because you know that government is doing its job.

A few years ago, I closed a private cooperative school with 200 kids for precisely this reason. They had illegally occupied and started a school in a group of buildings which were patently unsafe. The parents were angry and indignant about it because they had no idea just how much danger their kids were exposed to. Helping them understand the purpose behind building and fire codes in protecting the well being of their children was not something they wanted to hear. They did not have expertise in the subject matter. But I can guarantee that had government not intervened, someone would have gotten hurt or even killed. Fortunately, I worked for politicians who let the experts do their job and I can sleep at night knowing that these kids are not in harm's way.

What's amusing is that you can believe that there are corrupt elected officials and yet somehow think that there will be no corruption among private businesses if we just let things go unfettered by government regulations.

When elected officials fail in their duty to the public, its up to us to hold them accountible. In this we should hold the Bush administration accountible for interfering with objective scientific work intend to implement stated public policy on protecting the environment. Instead, your inexplicable reaction is to tolerate and make excuses for their corruption.

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