Sean King

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San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States

Friday, October 22, 2010

Google's CEO:

"The Laws Are Written by Lobbyists".

"The average American doesn’t realize how much of the laws are written by lobbyists" to protect incumbent interests, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Atlantic editor James Bennet at the Washington Ideas Forum. "It’s shocking how the system actually works."


I've been harping on this topic for a while because it's so important. Of course laws are written by lobbyist! And since only the wealthy establishment can afford lobbyists, or at least lobbyists who stand a chance of corrupting the system, laws and regulations are written to protect or favor this or that establishment group.

Our only hope for salvation is that sufficient numbers of people will realize that this is true for all laws, even those that they themselves would favor. It's true of environmental laws, so-called "consumer protection laws", healthcare laws, social justice laws, anti-discrimination laws, laws establishing holidays, laws designed to "punish" Wall Street, etc. Almost all laws benefit the establishment!

That being the case, the only solution is to elect people who will insist on fewer laws and more limited government. More and more the "elite" today are so not because they have earned it, but simply because the system was rigged by the government to favor their interests. Take away the government's protection by reducing regulation, and many elite organizations and people will fail. Heck, maybe most of them will. That failure will be painful for all at first (change and dislocation always is), but ultimately it will result in greater freedom and more opportunity for each one of us.

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