Whenever I hear about "deregulation" I marvel at that brilliant piece of propaganda. Deregulation. What a brilliant piece of doublespeak. Because many people feel that regulations are arbitrary, petty rules enacted by meddlesome government bureaucrats. Regulations are just government getting in the way of honest, hardworking businessmen.
It's not like these "regulations" are actually "laws" protecting us from "criminals." No, these are businessmen, not criminals. They are petty government regulations, not laws against criminal activity. They are enacted and enforced by meddlesome government bureaucrats, not brave police officers. This idea of "government regulations" is propaganda at its most manipulative.
We need a new way of talking about the issue to counter their propaganda, an idea that puts things in perspective and points out the lie behind their propaganda. And this idea is actually very simple, because what we are doing in the marketplace is very simple.
We are policing the market to keep the thieves out. We are not regulating business. We are passing laws to protect ourselves from criminals. Legitimate business is not regulated. Only criminals who break the laws get prosecuted. Legitimate businesses are protected from criminals by these laws. Not regulations, laws against criminal activity. Not government bureaucratic regulators, police.
Not deregulation, but the overturning of the rule of law.
Looking at things this way, a lot becomes more clear. Most people realize that when the police get tough on organized crime, the criminals will try to bribe the police. This is not a reason to get rid of the police! Yet many people will say that "regulatory capture" (meaning, the criminals successfully bribing the police) means that "regulations" don't work. What they are really saying is that because criminals can bribe the police, laws don't work. See how ridiculous that sounds when you put it in plain English?
Remember, these laws do not harm honest businessmen. They keep the criminals from harming honest businessmen. It is not the government getting in the way of "job creators." It is police keeping criminals from harming job creators.
In propaganda, you never say what you really mean. If people actually hear it, they might reject it. Instead, what you do is assume your main point is true, and everyone already agrees with you. The main, unspoken point to this propaganda is "businessmen are not criminals." Do you see how they never say that, but always assume it is true, and assume you believe it? That is how propaganda works.
In my propaganda, I am not directly contradicting that. My main point is not "businessmen are criminals" That is too direct. My main point is simple: "There are criminals in the marketplace." That is the thing I assume but do not state outright. I say, we need police in the marketplace to stop the criminals. I'm not saying, "Oh my God, the market is full of crooks." I'm assuming it is, and that you believe it is, and that we both want to do something to protect ourselves from those criminals.
What can we do to protect ourselves from the criminals in the marketplace? We can pass laws that criminalize their destructive behavior, and then put some cops on the beat. Do you want to get tough on crime? Who doesn't? If you want to get tough on crime, you need three things: tough laws, tough cops on the beat, and tough punishment for the criminals.
Now, remember, we are not going after businessmen. We are protecting businessmen from criminals. Oh, these criminals might look like businessmen, but that is just a disguise. They aren't businessmen, they are criminals. Honest businessmen will thank us for protecting them from criminals who make it hard to do business honestly. And real businessmen want to do business honestly. They are fine, upstanding citizens, intelligent and moral people who do not need to resort to criminality to prosper. Our laws do not harm honest businessmen, they protect them from criminals.
Keep these phrases handy. Police in the marketplace. Passing laws to protect honest businessmen from criminals. When someone talks to you about deregulation, you can say, "I can understand that you don't want petty government bureaucrats telling honest businesspeople what to do. But that's not what is happening. We are getting tough on crime, passing laws to protect honest businesspeople such as yourself from powerful criminals who use unfair business practices to capture the market. We're putting cops on the beat to catch those criminals and keep the market free for everyone."
We aren't calling them dishonest, and we are not saying, "The only reason you don't like laws and cops is because you are a criminal." No, we are using good propaganda, and just assuming that is true without saying it.