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Uncle Sam’s Club

Susan Dudley gives us the lowdown on how big business inevitably influences government regulation to their own benefit at the expense of consumers. These regulations manipulate our buying habits by eliminating options and have a negative impact on our lives. She talks about cigarette manufacturers and the Energy Star washing machines.

Watch this video by Economic Freedom to see what she has to say.

A few questions come to mind when I think about deregulation:

But if we don’t let the government regulate things, how will we have standards?

How does that work?

The Underwriter’s Laboratories is an example of self-regulation in an industry that is not corporate owned. UL is a not-for-profit organization that works to provide safety information to consumers and set standards that manufacturers can choose to meet and get the UL seal on their product. A lot of industries use the UL standards to achieve that seal voluntarily since they promote safety for their consumers, demand quality products and then it becomes a selling point. The value of the seal is that consumers are generally aware that it means they’ve met some highly researched standard for that product. Bottom line? I trust these guys and they are a way that the industry can regulate itself based on consumer demand without the government and corporations abusing their power.

Regulation that is backed by force is tends to stifle growth, creation and advancement of what it is trying to protect.

Obviously as an artist, I want protections and as a consumer I want regulated standards, but does it have to cost us the advancement of an industry? Do you want to change something? Than share the knowledge. Share why it’s good or bad. Tell your friends. In today’s world of instant access you can reach a far greater audience than you could just a few years ago. If there’s a dangerous product, tell someone and tell them to share the word. I promise, enough people complain and that item won’t be on the shelves anymore. This has happened several times. One that comes to my mind is the baby bottles that were pulled from the shelves containing BPA.

Education works to build a deeper element of understanding and we hold the power to give people the knowledge they need to make informed consumer decisions.