Conversation

Aella
@Aella_Girl
I often imagine civilization as a human body, extraordinarily complex, interconnected, host to lots of bacteria. Trying to deliberately modify the body to fix things you don't like is only good in a very narrow set of actions, or else you risk rippling and confusing side effects.
10
196
Aella
@Aella_Girl
I view regulations very much like medications for the body, except with a fraction of the attention paid to side effects. Yes, some might work, but how much are you disrupting the rest of the system in invisible ways that might manifest in deadly symptoms in a decade?
3
54
Aella
@Aella_Girl
We live in an overmedicated system, under an accumulating pile of regulations meant to fix our ails, but most of the ails that are being fixed are just side effects of prior regulations. But when a new symptom pops up, we demand another quick fix - simple to understand, direct.
2
66
MP
@mastrep83
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
I feel like you have a very short view of history. Most regulations are put in place after a private company has abused the free market. You could argue some go overboard. Nothing is perfect though.
2
1
Aella
@Aella_Girl
Replying to
@mastrep83
You can't abuse the free market unless you're using coercion, in which case the law is obliged to stop you. Only problem is very few of the regulations we've put in place stop companies from abusing the *law*
1
Show replies
Neil
@neilgaynor
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
FWIW, this is very much what policy analysis in academic economics research does and it regularly reaches pro-regulatory prescriptions. The effective regulations rarely get implemented because they often target the problem with a pecuniary mechanism (eg a carbon tax).
1
1
Show replies
Captain Jim.
@ManFromSnowyBch
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
We have a political party that bases it's policy on evidence, often from overseas. It won no seats in the last election. I'm reminded of a saying in sales. People buy emotionally and justify intellectually.