Rules and regulations are important aspects of our Western Civilization, as without them we would descend into savagery.
However, those charged with the responsibility of ‘policing’ the rules and regulations, must work as hard as we do, to earn the respect of our fellow citizens.
The police, judges, politicians and regulators cannot ‘govern’ without our respect, particularly in this age of electronic social-media.
So, it is with alarm that we see various regulators running vendettas against high profile individuals (examples; the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) against Paul Hogan and the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) against Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest).
The regulator’s ever-escalating modus operandi is enough to alarm anyone who has had unfortunate first-hand experience.
Step 1 – They do everything within their power to ‘seize all your assets’ thereby neutralizing your ability to legally defend yourself at the same level as the prosecutor’s attack.
Step 2 – Write and distribute to the media their own media releases, purporting to be the true record of the daily court proceedings.
Those actually sitting through such court proceedings often ask if these so-called media releases are on the ‘same planet’.
This ‘trial by media’ diminishes the regulators’ credibility and respect.
There is a further cost to our nation of this ‘dubious behaviour’, as it has developed into a serious disincentive to our risk-taking entrepreneurial class, on whose success, the fabric of our future success lies.
Without them, who will feed the bureaucrats?
The bureaucrats would probably be surprised to learn that many of them would not be missed, however, without a fair and unbiased application of our laws; we will be diminished if our entrepreneurs withdraw their productive skills.
Writer, Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged), commented on a similar situation she saw developing some 54 years ago in the U.S.:
“When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favours – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed.”
Should we encourage our ‘regulators’ to earn our respect?