Following All Regulations

I cite as a sort of an addendum to a previous article I wrote on the subject, something Samuel Edward Konkin, III (SEK3) wrote:

If all regulations passed in any country you wish to name were completely obeyed, let alone enforced, we would all be dead.

Consider a particularly pathological case in the United States of America.  If you charge a price for your product higher than your competitors, this is taken as evidence under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act that you have a monopoly and charges may be brought against you.  The same problem arises if you charge the same; that is considered evidence of a cartel and you and your competitors can all be fined.  Finally, if you charge less than your competitors, you are violating the "Fair Trade" laws in most states and can be arrested and fined.  It is impossible to obey all the regulations.

Source: The Agorist Primer, p. 39

I heard a joke along these lines from a Mises conference.  I'm sorry, I don't remember who originally told it.  The joke goes like this:

There were three soviet prisoners comparing stories about why they were in prison.  The first one said he was in prison because he was late to work.  He was accused of being lazy.  The second said he in prison for the same thing, only it was because he was early to work.  He was accused of being too competitive.  The third prisoner was always on time to work.  He was accused of having an American watch.

It's kind-of sad because these Soviet vs. American jokes are dated and don't make much sense anymore.

Posted via email from Anthony Martin's Weblog