I’ll never forget sitting in a meeting several years ago reviewing a situation where an investment client wanted to liquidate assets from a commission-based brokerage account and transfer the proceeds to a fee-based, managed account. It seems the “regulators” had an issue with this transaction, based on the fee that would be extracted from the investor on the commission side. Never mind that the individual investor was completely aware of the fees associated with this transaction and was adamant that his commission-based account be liquidated. The “regulators” had to protect him from himself. You see, the average citizen does not possess the knowledge and sophistication to interact with those in the investment business. Accordingly, the individual must rely on the wisdom of the collective.
This is a perfect example of how far this country has strayed. We allow the government to dictate terms on how we live our lives and accept the premise that they’re doing this to protect us. The American people have bought into the notion that, but for the “regulators”, the free market would empower the strong to take advantage of the weak. Accordingly, regulation is necessary to protect us from others and from ourselves. If the State didn’t regulate, chaos would surely ensue.
So we go about our business everyday, confident that there is a safety net of regulation to protect us, should we ever find ourselves in trouble. You see, this is a complicated world and most people could never survive without this protection. This false sense of security has led Americans to accept a plethora of regulations that fly in the face of individual liberty and personal responsibility. Investors are told what they can and can’t do with their money, employers are instructed as to how much to pay their employees, homeowners are advised how much water can run through their toilets and everyone is instructed how to cough, sneeze, blow their noses and wash their hands.
Remember Swine Flu? It was later referenced as H1N1 to accommodate the pork industry. We were led to believe that this demonic virus was poised to wreak havoc on this nation, resulting in a massive wave of death and destruction. Accordingly, there were calls for mandatory vaccines and all citizens had to be educated on the proper way to cough. You see, coughing into one’s hand is bad, as germs are then transmitted easily. The trick is to cough into one’s bent elbow, where all germs magically disappear. We had the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, providing a demonstration of proper coughing technique and the CDC sent out handy instructional posters for display in restrooms throughout the country.
Why do we accept this? Have we fallen so far that we are now prepared to exchange individual freedom for the promise of protection. Do we really believe the collective possesses greater wisdom and compassion than the individual? The American people have become nothing more than cattle, content to obey the rules of the State, so long as they have food, clothing, shelter and cable television. History has taught us that tyranny doesn’t flower overnight. The seeds are planted and growth is fostered by a series of small incremental steps. The strength of the State grows as individual liberty is diminished. At what point do the cattle offer resistance? When they’re being loaded to the cattle cars on their way to the slaughter house?