I don’t like it when the government gets too involved with the free market, even if I am typically a left leaning individual.
Without regulations, we would live in a dystopian society rivaling the late 1800s in terms of worker abuse and monopolized control of the private sector.
However, too much regulation stifles innovation and removes the financial incentive that drives and motivates many people to success in their respective industries. I’m seeing this happen in the food industry among the friends of mine in the agricultural sector. One of them was running a farm that had been in his family for three generations before him, but changes in his state’s laws and regulations forced him to close his operations last year. It was really heartbreaking to hear about when he announced it on social media. I have a different friend who works in the packaging department of a major medical cannabis company. He said that his state’s rules regarding acceptable packaging on medical cannabis products changes at least once every four or five months. Originally the cannabis companies were allowed to have colorful labels and packaging with transparent windows on them so customers could visually see their products before buying them. But now the medical cannabis rules and regulations have changed so much that every marijuana product, no matter what it is, has to be in stark white packaging with no color logos. You cannot have transparent windows in your packaging either. He said that the marijuana company that employs him has had to spend an obscene amount of money on constantly changing its packaging because the state can’t make up its mind regarding the medical cannabis industry.