A key pre-requisite for a regulation-light society is sound cultural norms: – If people don't get rowdy, cities wouldn't need curfews. - If people didn't over-fish, there wouldn't be quotas. – If people saved for retirement, there wouldn't be need for social security. etc.
Any trace of a problem will be magnified by a power-player to use to their advantage. Politician or corporation. It is detachment from community that is the source of our problems. This trend is accelerating, not reversing.