Enforced Conformityby Harry Browne
Many people think we're protected against dishonesty or inefficiency through government licensing and inspection requirements. But different individuals want different kinds and amounts of protection. For example, you might decide not to buy something until you're assured that it's what you expect - by your standards. I, on the other hand, might hire someone else to protect my interests. A third man might prefer to risk his money rather than pay the expense of having a product guaranteed. These differences between us pose no problem. Each of us can do as he chooses - trusting or not trusting the people we deal with, paying for as much or as little protection as we want. When the government intervenes, however, all of us are required to adhere to standards set by the government - and at a cost dictated by the government. Almost all of us are deprived of the choices we would have preferred. In a world of vastly different tastes, the government imposes one way upon us and forces everyone to adhere to that one way. Despite our differing tastes, the government decides which products we're allowed to buy. Federal agencies rule products out of the market, import quotas prevent other products from being available, and legal monopolies (such as the postal service or public utilities) prevent us from choosing between alternative ways of obtaining services. Again, our preferences are overruled and we're forced to take what the government has decreed to be "best" - leaving us without the things we could have had without government intervention. Government regulation always overrules the consumers. What consumers don't want, they don't have to buy; what governments don't want, consumers can't buy. What consumers want (protection, inspection, etc.), they can get; what the government thinks they should have, consumers are forced to take and forced to pay for. It's important to recognize that these government decisions are not benevolent, kindly forms of advice and help. No, they are enforced by violence. If you should ever decide that your business will continue to provide what consumers want, despite government regulations, you'll be met with violence. You'll be fined. If you refuse to pay the fine, your bank accounts will be seized. If you continue to provide what consumers prefer, you'll be ordered to close your business. If you resist, gentlemen with guns will take you to jail. Absolutely every government regulation is enforced by violence. If you've never seen that violence, it's because you've been careful, obedient, or lucky. Would regulations still be obeyed if the police, courts, and jails were dissolved? How I Found FREEDOM in an Unfree World by Harry Browne, © 1973. Published by The Macmillan Company, 866 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022.
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