Quote Originally Posted by Spartiate View Post
So you want a reactionary system where businesses are punished only after they've made people sick (or dead)...
Yes, a reactionary system just like when any person breaks the law. The solution isn't for the government to get up in everyone's business to see if they're doing anything wrong; people should simply be punished if they're proven guilty of harming other people. Businesses are in fact run by people, after all. If businesses kill their customers, the owners should be tried in court like any other individual would be. If they make their customers sick, the customers could sue that business. Obviously it's in the business' best interests not to kill their customers. I would even make a compromise and say the states should make their own laws concerning businesses. If states do their own regulating (as opposed to federal regulations), at least the citizens have more control over what laws get passed since their representatives are closer to home.

The idea behind a pure free market is that it regulates itself. If a restaurant serves tainted food and gets sued, people will obviously stop going to that restaurant. If the restaurant doesn't serve its customers well, customers will simply choose the competition. Eventually, you'll end up with a market dominated by the businesses that serve the best quality products. You'll even start to see people creating organizations which ensure quality and safety standards for the customer.


A free market can't mature however, if the government tries to control and regulate everything in it. I bet if people could sell products and services without having to hire a lawyer to tell them how to set everything up, what not to do and what paperwork to sign, we would have much more market activity and a healthier economy.