Regulations-
There are two ways of thinking when it comes to regulation – when the government establishes law on how we do things. Some say that it’s needed because it protects people, and things, from harm. Others say that it’s government trampling on our freedoms. But does regulation really work?
The other day I was watching a cable TV show called Pawn Stars. A gentleman came across what looked like an old fortune teller machine and was interested in selling it. You would drop a token into it, which activated several spinning wheels, similar to a slot machine. When the wheels stopped it would give you a generic fortune and reward you with a payout of tokens if your fortune was favorable. Rick Harrison, owner of the pawn shop, said that this particular machine was used prior to 1931 when gambling was illegal in Nevada. To work around the law they used tokens, and the winner would exchange the tokens for money in a back room.
Today I am confronted with government intrusion every time I sit on my crapper. Our government mandated that toilet bowl manufactures make high efficient tanks. Pre 1994 tanks used 3.4 gallons of water. Today’s HETS (high efficiency toilets) use 1.2 gallons of water. Without getting too graphic let me explain what I have to do, and how I have adjusted to these HETS. It’s a simple rule I learned when I was incarcerated in LA: Flush often – otherwise known as a courtesy flushes. On average, because of the smaller tank of water, I’m flushing three times during my “event” on the bowl. Simple math says I’m using 3.6 gallons of water. That’s 1 tenth MORE than the pre regulated tanks. I’m certain our caring government spent countless dollars doing studies to see how much water would be saved with the smaller tanks. Has regulation, costing us who knows what in tax dollars, worked? Let’s look into regulation further.
Our government tried similar things with water reducing washers in showerheads. People just take longer showers. There’s been the paper bag issue at supermarkets too. The brown paper was replaced with plastic. Now they want to eliminate plastic bags because they take too long to disintegrate. Then there’s the plan to replace 400 million incandescent light bulbs with CFLs by 2012. The Compact Fluorescent Light bulb takes more energy (the thing they’re trying to reduce) to make, don’t last as long as advertised, cost more money to purchase, and contain mercury. Nobodies talking about when these bulbs are thrown out and all this mercury ends up in our soil. I guess the government will have to do additional tax payer studies regarding mercury in our soil, and how to clean it up.
I know people think the government has good intentions, and that’s why we have regulations. I feel in the long run that if you let the free market deal with: industry, our behavior, pollution, etc, consumers will make the right choices. Let industry advertise the benefits of their product, and have businesses compete for our dollars. Some will offer a better product, and some will offer a more affordable price. Let privately owned companies pay for research. Not tax payer dollars! It seems to me when the government is using somebody else’s money there’s little consideration regarding waste. Private industry wants to profit, so they run their companies more efficiently, and are constantly looking for the “next big thing“. Ultimately the planet, consumer, business, and the government [with tax dollars from profits], wins.
