Locked History Attachments

StatistFallacies/UnlicensedBrainSurgery

Fallacy:

"Without regulations, licensing and codes, any Joe Blow can do brain surgery, build a house and, um, give you a haircut. You don't want things like that left up to the 'free market' now, do you?"

Response:

The absence of a state would not mean the absence of standards, and coercion is completely unnecessary. Private companies like Underwriter's Laboratories exist today to set standards, and private companies can and do test and accredit individuals to do various types of skilled work. When the state threatens harm to people who want to practice their skills without paying them for a license, it raises prices for everyone and in many cases isn't protecting anyone from anything at all. You wouldn't go to a back-alley surgeon even if it were legal, and the idea of needing government approval to cut hair or be an interior decorator is ludicrous.

A free society would have the benefit of trusted organizations to provide credentials where the market demands it (food inspection, medical practitioners, electrical devices, and so forth) but without the expensive monopolies a threat of state violence against "rogue" practitioners can create. (DBR)