Think, for a moment, how many laws we have in the US. The federal government has laws, knows as the US Code. Agencies can pass laws, known as CFRs (Code of Federal Regulation). Every state has it's laws, and every county and local government has it's laws.
For the purposes of this blog, I'm going to ignore a certain class of stupid laws on the books. We all know the ones I'm talking about, as we probably see them from time to time on the Internet, or learned about them in a public school law or civics class. They're the laws that say it's illegal to drive in a car with an uncaged bear, or require all homeowners to own a rake, or stupid stuff like that. Though good for a laugh because they make you scratch your head and wonder aloud "what were those silly politicians thinking when they passed this", I'm not going to focus any further on those relatively few laws.
Ask a knowledgeable person the following question: "How many laws are there in the US?" If the person is really smart, they'll give you the one right answer, and that is that nobody knows!
Let's imagine for a moment, that we could collect all the laws in book form, and the imagine all these laws in books on a shelf! Just the US Code, and the CFRs in bound volumes occupy over 375 inches of shelf space. That's over 30 feet of shelf, just for federal laws and regulations. Compare that to the picture below:
What has happened? Have we lost our minds? Have we become a nation of water-heads that needs the protection and guidance of a benevolent big brother at every turn? Are we really any better off for all these laws, and the requisite policing and enforcement that comes with them? What freedoms and liberties have we sacrificed by allowing ourselves to be so "ruled"?
I think this is where the Fifth Estate can play an important part. First, a quick definition. The Fifth Estate is actually an undefined, though oft-used term, and is generally considered to be all that which is not comprised of the other 4 Estates, namely:
- Clergy is the First Estate
- The nobility is the Second Estate
- The commoners are known as the Third Estate
- The press is the fourth estate
So what does the Fifth Estate have to do with reducing the number of laws? Think about all the laws that companies have to follow. Labor laws, environmental laws, safety laws, trade laws, competitive laws, export laws, import laws, tax laws, etc. Laws governing companies and business are so numerous that they add extra cost to the products sold or services delivered by those companies. But what's the alternative? The most effective law, in a free enterprise and capital-driven society, is the law of competition, but how could that be best leveraged?
Let's look at a few examples. Consider a restaurant. Government health inspectors visit the restaurant on an infrequent but regular basis to make sure that the restaurant is safe and sanitary. Is this really something the government needs to do? Let's say that there were no more health inspectors. The local International House of Schwarma decide they want to save money, and turn the heat lamps down low, serving tepid schwarma to their clientele. Dairy products are also left out on the counter, and the high school kid who runs the fryer doesn't wash his hands after going to the bathroom. A couple of weeks later, someone gets sick and thinks it's from their visit to the IHOS. A week later 5 more people get sick. In today's day and age of social networking sites and Internet, how long would it take to get the message out that the local Schwarmary is substandard? Business would drop off very quickly, and the head of the IHOS would have to clean up their act quickly, or go out of business.
Now, let's think of a manufacturer. Imagine that we didn't have all the reams of anti-pollution laws that are on the books. How could we be protected from a manufacturer who decides to dump their waste into our environment? Competition and information is the answer. If a number of people take exception to what that producer is doing, then fewer people will buy their products.
Of course the fly in the ointment here is that taking big brother out of the equation means that we all need to be more responsible consumers. More organizations, like Consumer Reports, ePinions, Angies list, and sites like that could spring up. The value to these sites is that real people can contribute to them, and that businesses would have a chance to respond to both the boquets and the brickbats.
Just like on web searches, some companies and websites show up because they pay to be there. Sites that charge for either users to contribute their feedback, or companies to respond, or place higher on satisfaction scales, are worthless sites, and should be sent truckloads of tainted schwarma.
My point is that we need to find ways to limit laws and government involvement, in favor of competition and disclosure. Now that we all have the tools of free public speech delivered in a timely fashion, we have an unprecedented opportunity to take more responsibility as individuals. The voice of the individual is more powerful than ever before. One only need look to the world events in places like Egypt and Iran over the past year to see how true that is.
Even with all the laws, companies still sell tainted food, and companies still pollute, so it's not like we'd be throwing caution to the wind - we'd just be changing the ultimate punishment. Rather than a fine that goes to the government, the penalty to the offending company would be the ultimate price - no customers.
Critics will say that it's too easy to "plant" a lie about a company, or to exaggerate about a problem, thus unfairly impacting a company's business. The solution is to allow companies to respond and defend themselves. Recently, we traveled to a city, and looked for a hotel using one of the popular travel sites that gives reviews. We quickly narrowed our search down to one particular hotel, and read a selection of the best and worst reviews as well as some in the middle of the road. What impressed us the most was the number of positive reviews as compared to the negative. The next most impressive factor was that the General Manager took the time to respond individually to criticisms. Had the person complaining taken the time to raise the issue at the time of their stay, it seemed clear that the GM probably would have solved the issue. We booked our stay, and were very pleased.
Our freedom of speech is a tremendous liberty that we abuse because so many fail to exercise it for the common good.
Of course we could allow the government to look for more ways to control everything in our lives, while we relinquish more of our freedoms. Stories like this, about some girls and their lemonade stand, would become more the norm, the government would grow larger, lawyers would become better paid and more abundant, and our economy could further stagnate because we've just made things so dang complicated.
We don't need to be protected by some authority that could just as quickly turn against us. We need to take the responsibility that comes with our freedoms, and take charge. It is supposed to be a Government of the people, by the people and for the people, not a Government over the people.
It's just common sense.
