>because our highly regulated world sometimes seems like it is actively designed to make it impossible for people to make their lives work (without being part of a megacorp -- and what if that doesn't work for you?).
I thought that everybody being part of megacorps was the intended outcome of a lot of regulations. Isn't that why there are no clear guidelines and limits to a lot of regulation? It's particularly ironic that the government themselves can't even seem to keep up with a lot of regulations (reminds me of GDPR and how the EU commission's websites didn't follow them).
... intended outcome...Isn't that why there are no clear guidelines and limits to a lot of regulation?
"Ninety percent of everything is crap."
"Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity."
People tend to make rules that reflect the kind of environment that is typical for them. Federal government is large, bureaucratic, etc. It's no surprise that rules coming out of it implicitly assume that everyone works in a similar environment.
Another contributing problem is that people need to justify their paycheck. Writing more rules is how politicians look productive.
I don't know what the solution is. But assuming malice rather than trying to understand the problem space in more neutral terms is not a constructive path forward.
I agree with you that a lot of the forces that push regulations are "random noise", but I find it difficult to believe that big players in these industries aren't pushing this along. They have something to gain from this after all.
That's true, but is fundamentally a different idea than your earlier framing suggested to me. Lobbying is absolutely a thing and tends to be funded by people with deep pockets.
I thought that everybody being part of megacorps was the intended outcome of a lot of regulations. Isn't that why there are no clear guidelines and limits to a lot of regulation? It's particularly ironic that the government themselves can't even seem to keep up with a lot of regulations (reminds me of GDPR and how the EU commission's websites didn't follow them).