by Mary J. Ruwart at Liberty For All. Ruwart was the 2008 runner up for the Libertarian Party nomination, and a past Libertarian candidate in several elections. Posted to IPR by Paulie. Disclaimer: I voted for Ruwart on every ballot after my candidate, Steve Kubby, was eliminated, and recommended other delegates to do so as well.
How would the consumer be protected without licensing laws? Without the FDA, who will keep greedy corporations from poisoning people for easy profits? Without government-mandated product recalls, who will make corporations repair their defective products? Who will test the water to make sure it is pure?
Do licensing laws really protect us from unscrupulous business people? Surprisingly, Sidney Carroll and Robert Gaston found that licensing laws actually hurt us. They found that states with the most rigorous licensing laws for electricians, dentists, and optometrists have the greatest incidence of accidental electrocutions, poor dental hygiene, and blindness respectively!
How do licensing laws hurt the very consumers that they were designed to protect? Apparently, as requirements go up, fewer practitioners are able to obtain licenses, so they charge more for their services and make consumers wait for service. More people are tempted to risk their health by making their own electrical repairs, skipping their eye check-ups, and delaying visits to their dentists. Licensing lowers the amount of quality service that is actually delivered-especially to the poor.
If licensing laws hurt more than they help, can the marketplace do better? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Voluntary certification does what compulsory government licensing can not.
18 responses so far ↓
1 I've been slimed // Feb 1, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Looky, looky who has come out of the wood work! Isn’t it just sweet how her article was posted on LFA, which just happens to be run by her former (or current?) secret honey…….
2 paulie cannoli // Feb 1, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Mary makes great points here, as usual.
Why should I care about her alleged affair, particularly when you have offered no proof whatsoever, and haven’t even said who you are?
And, again, even if you did prove your allegations…what difference does that make? Sounds like a matter between her and her husband, if even true at all, and none of my business.
3 Prospective Advertiser // Feb 1, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Mary is correct. Licenses kill. Licensed practitioners use the force of the state to limit competition, so people who can provide service are prevented from doing so for not having a current license.
The people who like licensing are despicable scum. The government doesn’t do anything useful by providing a license, because it is multiplying entities.
Suppose you don’t know whether to trust someone. What do you do? If you look for a government license, how do you know whether you can trust the people who provided the license? How do you know what procedures were used for obtaining that license, and how can you validate those methods? By looking for a license you have multiplied your evaluation problem’s complexity.
Instead, you should look for information about this person from someone you already have reason to trust. How do you find a competent medical professional? You ask people who live in the area. You ask people you already trust.
All kinds of frauds have been licensed by medical boards. All kinds of licensed professionals fail to stay current with their education. The existence of a licensing scheme tells you quite a bit about the price you are likely to pay, but nothing about the quality of what you are getting.
4 Libertarian Joseph // Feb 1, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I bet Mary is a good lay. And, yeah, she’s right, as usual.
5 libertariangirl // Feb 2, 2009 at 1:32 am
Mary makes great point as usual.
her private life is nobodys business and quite tacky to talk about.
6 paulie cannoli // Feb 2, 2009 at 3:08 am
Yep.
7 paulie cannoli // Feb 2, 2009 at 3:51 am
Suppose you don’t know whether to trust someone. What do you do? If you look for a government license, how do you know whether you can trust the people who provided the license? How do you know what procedures were used for obtaining that license, and how can you validate those methods? By looking for a license you have multiplied your evaluation problem’s complexity.
Instead, you should look for information about this person from someone you already have reason to trust. How do you find a competent medical professional? You ask people who live in the area. You ask people you already trust.
All kinds of frauds have been licensed by medical boards. All kinds of licensed professionals fail to stay current with their education. The existence of a licensing scheme tells you quite a bit about the price you are likely to pay, but nothing about the quality of what you are getting.
True.
8 Libertarian Joseph // Feb 2, 2009 at 9:24 am
Maybe Mary should run for school board.
9 Lidia Seebeck // Feb 2, 2009 at 1:45 pm
You know, it wouldn’t happen to occur to any of you that perhaps Lee and Mary are FRIENDS and that’s why she was invited to write for LFA? When Miche took over LFV we asked that Mike stay on as a writer there, and she readily gave assent to that. Oh gee, now there’s gonna be rumors because Miche was out here for the Antiwar.com party a few days before. You can quit before you begin, it was a rather nice, kinda sedate party which was more about brainstorming ideas for the movement than anything.
In other words, just because there are ladies in the party doesn’t mean we’re automatically sluts and skanks. It would appear that the divide of patriarchy lives on all too well within the LP. How sad.
10 paulie cannoli // Feb 2, 2009 at 1:53 pm
You know, it wouldn’t happen to occur to any of you that perhaps Lee and Mary are FRIENDS and that’s why she was invited to write for LFA?
It would certainly occur to me. By any of you, do you mean the one person who is making an issue over unproven allegations that everyone else is saying would not be any of our business even if true?
When Miche took over LFV we asked that Mike stay on as a writer there, and she readily gave assent to that.
It would be nice if she were to unblock me, as well. Details available upon request.
Oh gee, now there’s gonna be rumors because Miche was out here for the Antiwar.com party a few days before. You can quit before you begin, it was a rather nice, kinda sedate party which was more about brainstorming ideas for the movement than anything.
Nice try on getting a rumor started
In other words, just because there are ladies in the party doesn’t mean we’re automatically sluts and skanks.
No, it doesn’t. But it would be nice if we were to get a few more who are, just to keep things from getting too boring.
It would appear that the divide of patriarchy lives on all too well within the LP. How sad.
Indeed.
11 libertariangirl // Feb 2, 2009 at 1:58 pm
You know, it wouldn’t happen to occur to any of you that perhaps Lee and Mary are FRIENDS and that’s why she was invited to write for LFA?
it did occur to me but I chose not to say anything like that , I feel discussing her private life no matter what you believe is nobodys business and tacky tacky tacky ..thats the last im commenting on it
12 Michael Seebeck // Feb 2, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Whether any alleged affair happened or not is irrelevant and is simply an anonymous poster attacking the person. If there is a dispute with Dr. Ruwart’s message, let’s hear it.
Paulie is right, and my loving, snarky, and slightly slutty and skanky wife (but only to me and that’s NOYB!) was agreeing with him.
)
13 Lidia Seebeck // Feb 2, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Hey, of course I’m snarky, I’ve picked it up by osmosis from the Anarchist Bitch herself. The rest of it, well I’m on the cusp of the moon so draw your own conclusions.
14 I've been slimed // Feb 2, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Believe when I say–If Lee and Mary’s afair is anybody’s business other than theirs—it’s definitely mine. Enough said. It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out guys!
15 Lidia Seebeck // Feb 2, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I can certainly guess but unless you decide to step out of troll mode there is no proof.
Why do you feel the need to take allegations about a private affair so public if you are intent on hiding yourself, and also what does this have to do with the message of Liberty? So far all I’m hearing is your personal attack, slimed, on Mary and Lee without talking about the message.
16 paulie cannoli // Feb 2, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Believe when I say–If Lee and Mary’s afair is anybody’s business other than theirs—it’s definitely mine.
Maybe, maybe not. But even if it’s your business, it’s none of mine, and I think everyone else here has pretty much agreed with me. Sorry if you’re having family issues, but I really don’t see what that has to do with Dr. Ruwart’s work as a writer, former or possible future political candidate, LNC member, or with anything she wrote about consumer protection here.
Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.
-Jerry Springer
17 I've been slimed // Feb 2, 2009 at 6:36 pm
You people are a piece of work. Why would you care to trust and respect someone politically who has done what she has done. This is the last you’ll hear from me unless Mary decides to be dumb enough to run for public office again. Then and only then will the proof be shown.
18 Michael Seebeck // Feb 2, 2009 at 6:48 pm
IOW, you were called out from behind your pseudonym and you have nothing but unsubstantiated allegations, and you are unable to understand that libertarians believe what consenting adults do on their own time is their own business, as Paulie pointed out..
Face it, the libertine sides of us just don’t give a damn.
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