Thread: Who needs regulations?

I was just reading an article about Brazil and how the motor vehicle death rate is sky high and has been increasing year by year. Certainly folks there ignore traffic rules and the police don't enforce them but it seems the cars built and sold there are lacking all the safety devices found in the U.S and Europe. In an accident steering wheels simple impale the drivers and the roofs crush to nothing and the car bodies crumple like a cardboard box. When asked about why the exact same car model built elsewhere performs totally differently in a wreck than the ones in Brazil some of the car makers simply lie and say it isn't so and some like Ford say "their cars are legal in Brazil".

A segment in this country think regulations are bad and corporations will always do the right thing. This serves as perfect example how corporations simply only care about their bottom line and without regulations do nothing. Many feel the cars of the 70s simply would never be built that way these days and Govt regulations were never needed.

No doubt if we didn't have regulations we would have the same cars here that Brazil has now.

We see this again and again. Only when corporations are forced to do things will they do them.

I'm all for forcing corporations to comply. But by using my pocket book, not the government as a club. Because when the government gets involved, even those businesses that are ethical, and have earned my business, get hammered along with the rest of us.

This reads like someone unfamiliar with our history as a nation. Read the Jungle by Upton Sinclair for a brief vision of our country under laissez-faire capitalism, or simply look at the disaster that caused the most recent Great Re(Depre)cession. Capitalists are out to make money, and our government does plenty to aid and abet that goal. We've been able to get some consumer protections and worker's rights out there, and every time the battle has been hard fought, bitter, and divisive.

We've done the pocket-book shtick, and it doesn't work. Until government stops aiding capitalists, we can't go without a vague amount of protection.

Like I said, government intervention. BTW, read the Jungle years ago. Still eat USDA approved sausage on occasion. You think there's still no extra protein in those links? Yum

Besides, who's regulating the government regulators?

Industries need regulations that are independently enforced in order to ensure you are getting a safe quality product, period. If anyone thinks an industry could be trusted to be self regulating I believe they are sadly mistaken. The primary goal of any industry is to make a profit, anyway, anyhow. Profit is the queen of battle for them and other considerations are secondary. There is not a thing wrong with making a profit but there are quite a few things wrong with how it is done in large number cases. One instance is the example given by TBS of building similar products but to different standards depending on the intended consumer market. In both cases the products are built to the minimum standards required for the intended market. Some things never change.

Bob

I'd rather that industries grow wealthy from consumer derived profit than government bureaucrats from illegitimate taxes.

Originally Posted by honedright

I'd rather that industries grow wealthy from consumer derived profit than government bureaucrats from illegitimate taxes.

Oh they have with the push for a global economy and off shoring, they ain't hurtin a bit. Reason being they have found places with little to no regulations and poor enforcement of any regulation that do exist to manufacture their goods. The other side of that coin is trying to be a good consumer with no job or a substandard one, good luck.

Bob

Yeah, corporations suck. At least, until your 401k stops growing.

Originally Posted by BobH

Oh they have with the push for a global economy and off shoring, they ain't hurtin a bit. Reason being they have found places with little to no regulations and poor enforcement of any regulation that do exist to manufacture their goods. The other side of that coin is trying to be a good consumer with no job or a substandard one, good luck.

Bob

Consumers are not without fault in this situation. We buy the crap.

Originally Posted by Mvcrash

Consumers are not without fault in this situation. We buy the crap.

Certainly, but then again a lot of people buy what they can afford eg no or substandard jobs due to off shoring. You can add to that the ever new and ingenious ways the financial industry comes up with to lend money at low rates to people who should not qualify just to keep things going. Just a vicious circle on a downward spiral.

Bob