The things that stand out to me today are the disatisfactions with the government or authorities on results. “There ought to be a law against [blanl]”. I won’t try to get into the motivations but I will talk about where regulation is needed and why. This is not overtly a political opinion but more on the mechanics of regulation. The majorit of people are dissatisfied with what government is doing about our problems, yet we have made a move towards people and policies that wish to diminish the regulatory state to ensure the freedom of markets. Cool story. But it isn’t what we think it is. Unless those same people pull away the protections for companies in terms or recourse, award caps, etc. I do not take you seriously. You are putting companies above people. It is a corprotocracy in the guise of freedom.
The regualtions that I deal with as a quality professional are out of outrage and necessity because left to their own devices, the company will only do what it must to market their products. It is not even about outrage by the public. Sometimes there is outrage but in today’s media cycle, people forget or never know because of the overall flow of information.
I consistently use this example for people on what they think the value of regulation is: How often do you think about putting that pill in your mouth every morning wondering if it is safe or not. If you don’t think or worry, then thank regulation.
Companies, while they may be legally people, are not obliged to have any more ethics that the regulations they are under. There are absolutely many companies that do the right thing because there are people in charge, but then there is always the bottom line. This is not a screed against capitalism. It is a comment that removal of regulations or worse, railing against the peopel that enforce or instill them in a company is acting against your own self interest. Maybe not to your pocket book but I assure you against the health and welfare of someone you love.
Regulation is here to keep our markets from devolving to the lowest common denominator. Regulations and regulators are there to only keep companies measured against what the bare minimum is. There are only specific regulatiosn because bad actors got away with common sense actions that were not required.
I leave you with this. Regulation keeps you safe. It is the reason why we are safer than we ever have been. De-regulation means you will have to be worried about more things in a world where you have less time. Be ready to be engaged or be a victim of namesless and faceless actors with very little recourse through a court system that is overloaded.
Good luck.