Article in NYT about the apartment fire in London that considers consequences of deregulation. I know a lot of people who think we live in an overly regulated society and there are times when I hear from otherwise sensible people their qualms with a particular regulation that affects them, in their minds, unfairly when, in most cases, honest assessment of the regulation would lead to an understanding of the good sense behind the regulation.
Actually, almost all benefit from regulation and, whether they think about it or not, live lives made better for the regulations that give them confidence in boarding airplanes or taking elevators or driving on freeways or drinking water and eating their cookies and carrots.
Annoying as some regulations are, and there probably are some that need to be changed from time to time, it is regulations that allow us to live relatively comfortable lives without having to have someone taste what we are going to eat to determine whether it contains poison or having to take small steps across the floor on the second story to determine whether the structure is sound enough to carry our weight.
To those who do buy the poison that is anti-regulation for the sake of getting rid of regulations, know that to be free of regulation is not to be more free considering the kinds of things that regulations exist to protect us against. Regulations, most, exist so that without having to think about it, we know we are safe and can go about living our lives without having to worry about whether the building we are walking buy might collapse and fall on our heads or whether the restaurant in which we are eating is serving up spoiled meat.
