"Big Government" doesn't just apply to DC and the massive federal apparatus. It's in many of the states and local governments, too. A recent Detroit News op-ed detailed some egregious examples.
I've seen some of these before, but they bear remembering. In Michigan, an auto mechanic can take a 6-hour course to become state certified. That's fine. According to federal regulations, a commercial airplane pilot requires 1,500 hours of instruction. That's fine, too, esp when I'm up in a metal tube, 36,000 feet in the sky, traveling at 600 mph! To get a license, Michigan requires barbers to have 1,800 hours of classes/instruction to cut hair.
There are certain rules that govern cosmetology students' ability to shampoo clients' hair. I don't know about Michigan's regulations, but there's a Supreme Court case now challenging Tennessee's (?) requirement of 300 hours of instruction "on the theory and practice of shampooing." Silly me. I thought it was "Apply. Lather. Rinse." At least that's what's on the bottle in our shower stall.
Of course, the rationale is always that such onerous rules and regulations are to protect the public. OK, I understand the pilots' requirements. The health care and child care fields? OK. I admit that there is a public safety issue in regulating electricians and the like, too.
But what about florists, like some states do? Or tree trimmers? In California, a woman was fined $10,000 for trimming, by request, some branches from her neighbor's oak tree. She didn't have a license. Toss in hair-braiders, tour guides, and yoga instructors. In a number of states, they must be licensed. Why? For instance, if my yoga instructor is rotten (none of them are; they are very good), I can stop going, find another place, etc. Wisconsin regulated sign language interpreters. An Oregon engineer with engineering degrees from Cornell and MIT, was fined $500 for not being "a registered engineer," that is, "registered" with the state. I've written many times about how I think student teaching for prospective teachers is a scam.
This isn't just about government overreach, this attitude that somehow government knows more and better than we do and must stick its hand in more and more aspects of our lives. There is a good deal of economic evidence that the excessive regulation costs jobs and depresses pay.
Two articles in the latest issue of the Amherst Alumni Magazine are worthy of note. One, telling the life of Harold Wade, Jr., was compelling--and I don't toss that word around blithely. He was a black student from NYC, a senior when I was a freshman, but I didn't know him and don't at all remember him. I wish I had. (But that, me taking advantage of a wider range of students, was still a couple of years off. As I recently told one of my professors, "I was struggling to keep my head above water" academically and otherwise.) The author of Black Men of Amherst (now out of print) , Wade tragically drowned just a few years after graduation. From a memorable article, I keep returning to this from Wade, "This college is moving [forward in the area of civil rights] and does not have to disown its past to do so." I think we can consider that in much of our current evaluations of the past, particularly in light of the Civil War and slavery.
Related, perhaps only tangentially (I used that word frequently and was pleased to hear one of my students this AM use it!), was another article which chronicled a number of recent Amherst graduates who are "making their mark in China." They have become entrepreneurs there. I didn't read much of the article, but was still a bit perplexed. Why are these Americans doing their work in China, Commie China? Aren't the Chinese among the most repressed people in the world? Aren't they ruled by the ham-handed commie party? What rights do they have? (Heh Heh.) Yet more, don't the Chinese lead the world (or are at least close) in stealing others' ideas in technology, military secrets, and intellectual property? So, why are these people helping the Chinese? I guess, if had read the article, the answer might be they are seeking to help the Chinese people, not the Chinese government. Hmmm...... Haven't there been movements in the US to go after companies and individuals who profited from dealing with Hitler and the Nazis and companies and families who built the foundations of their fortunes on slavery before the Civil War? What's the difference? I never liked that the Michigan governors, the last two at least, courted trade with China. The commies in China, Nazis, slaveholders?????? I guess when it boils down to it, it's all about money.
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About Me
- Ron Marinucci
- I have been married to Karen for 47 of my 73 years. I have two sons, Mike and Matt, both adults (at least in chronological age), and three grandchildren. I am retired, I suppose. I continue to teach college history, part-time; I still enjoy it, although the increasing amount of silly paperwork is grating and will likely be what drives me to fully retire. I have a BA in history from Amherst College and three graduate degrees. I do a little writing, too, some of which actually brings in some money.
1 comment:
Yes, government regulations. Now more and more, states and cities are coming down on Air B&B’s. Why, because the government says we need make sure we have safe places for people to stay. Real reason, the Hotel Lobbyists are bribing our lawmakers to shut down these entrepreneurs because they don’t pay the same fees to the state and local governments as the hotels do.
With regards to the engineer in Oregon, any state in the union prohibits you from providing engineering services without being licensed in that state. Now you may say why, an Engineer if trained can do the work anywhere. Well, the building codes in California (due to siesmic designs) are different from those in other states in the country. Resisprocity in other states is not difficult to obtain, but must still demonstrate knowledge of the codes and design peramators of that state to meet all Health, Safety and Welfare requirements. Interior Designers have fought long and hard against interior decorators. Why you ask, who needs a trained individual to pick colors and fabrics? Well fabrics selected my look nice, but if it has a high flame spread, does the elderly person or a baby in a nursery stand a chance to get out before the room is engulfed in flames.
1,500 hours of training to cut hair is absurd. Why would a person want to invest that kind of money in a low paying job?
I heard an interesting discussion on NPR last night. They were talking about China’s Beltline program, where they go into countries and develop infrastructure to make the country more successful. Most of the countries they target have bad credit ratings and cannot get good loans. So when they are lent the money and their government collapses, they are beholding to the Chinese. And now they have a foothold in that region. Kind of like what Richard Nixon did to Argentina and other countries in South America in the 70’s.
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