God only had 10 Commandments on a single tablet, so why do we have millions of laws today?
Humans have made lots of progress and innovation in recent centuries, but the increasing complexity of our laws and their substitution for basic human morality has resulted in billions of victims worldwide.
If you had to reduce our basic laws to 1 page, what would you start with? Would it be the “Golden Rule” which includes various versions of treating others as you would like to be treated or would you simply start with making it illegal to harm other humans without their permission?
There are many reasons why we should simply our laws and reduce red tape including:
- Increased Efficiency: Can help streamline processes, making it easier for businesses and individuals to comply with regulations and access services.
- Encourages Entrepreneurship, Investment and Innovation: Less resources spent on regulatory compliance means more resources for new/improved products, services, and solutions.
- Improves Competition: Complex laws and regulations often create barriers to entry for small businesses, making it more difficult for them to compete with larger companies. Simplifying laws can level the playing field and promote fair competition.
- Better Access to Services: Makes it easier for individuals to access important services, such as healthcare, education, and housing.
- Increased Transparency: A simplified legal framework can increase transparency and reduce corruption, making it easier for people to understand their rights and obligations
Rule of Law
Simply reducing the number of laws without considering ethics and basic human morality is not the answer. Laws are only as good as their fair and just enforcement. The rule of law is important for numerous reasons:
- Ensures Equality: The rule of law ensures that everyone, regardless of their status or power, is subject to the same laws and legal procedures. This promotes equality and fairness in society.
- Protects Individual Rights: The rule of law protects individual rights and freedoms, such as free speech, and due process.
- Maintains Order: The rule of law helps maintain social order by providing clear rules and regulations that everyone must follow.
- Promotes Predictability: The rule of law promotes predictability and stability by ensuring that the laws and legal processes are consistently applied and understood.
- Encourages Investment: A stable legal system that follows the rule of law is more attractive to investors and businesses, as it reduces uncertainty and risk.
- Facilitates a Resilient Economy: The rule of law provides a stable and predictable environment for commerce and innovation.
- Prevents Corruption: The rule of law helps prevent corruption by ensuring that everyone is subject to the same laws and accountability measures.
Unfortunately, we seem to treat “white collar” criminals, even those who harm billions of humans, much more leniently than “ordinary” criminals. Examples discussed in more detail below include Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate,” Big Tobacco, Asbestos, and Deadly Man-made Chemicals. When will we learn that penalizing a corporation a fraction of their profits is not a strong enough deterrent to prevent them from selling products that kill millions of humans and then covering up and lying about the harmful effects of these products?
Reasons corporate wrong doers should go to jail:
- Deterrence: Imposing corporate wrongdoers can serve as a deterrent to others, discouraging them from engaging in similar illegal behavior.
- Protects Consumers: Corporate wrongdoers often harm consumers through deceptive practices, fraud, or other illegal activities. Imprisoning those responsible sends a message that such behavior will not be tolerated and helps protect the public from harm.
- Upholds the Rule of Law: The rule of law is based on the principle that everyone, including corporations, is subject to the same laws and must be held accountable for their actions. Imprisoning corporate wrongdoers reinforces this principle and ensures that the law is applied equally to all.
- Promotes Justice: Corporate wrongdoing often results in significant harm to victims, including employees, shareholders, and communities. Imprisoning those responsible helps bring justice to the victims and holds the wrongdoers accountable for their actions.
- Maintains Trust in the System: Corporate wrongdoing undermines trust in the justice system and the rule of law. Imprisoning those responsible helps restore this trust by demonstrating that the justice system is capable of holding powerful individuals and corporations accountable.
- Promotes Ethical Business Practices: Imprisoning corporate wrongdoers sends a message that unethical and illegal behavior will not be tolerated in the business community, encouraging others to adopt ethical business practices.
Regulations and Disclosure Requirements
Complex business regulations and disclosure requirements increase compliance expense and reduce the number of businesses who operate ethically.
Those manufacturing and selling products know more about their products than the regulators. This often results in clueless regulation or regulation that gets drafted by the corporations themselves. This why few regulatory schemes are effective at maximizing business efficiency and public welfare.
Businesses should be required to disclose all known or suspected risks and harms that their products may cause. Fail to disclose, go to jail. When in doubt, DISCLOSE! Yes, businesses can offer honest and accurate evidence to downplay the risks and refute the harms, but there is no need for much of the regulatory complexity we have. This would reduce the cost of expensive lawyers while keeping the public be better informed.
Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate”
The Volkswagen (VW) emissions scandal, also known as “Dieselgate,” was a major controversy that came to light in September 2015. It was discovered that VW had installed software in millions of diesel vehicles that cheated emissions tests, allowing the vehicles to emit harmful pollutants at levels up to 40 times higher than allowed under federal regulations.
The scandal involved many VW diesel models, including popular models such as the Volkswagen Golf, Jetta, and Beetle. VW initially claimed that the high emissions were due to technical problems, but after an investigation by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the company admitted to installing the software to cheat emissions tests.
The consequences of the scandal were severe for VW. The company was fined billions of dollars by US and European regulators, and its reputation was severely damaged. VW was forced to buy back hundreds of thousands of affected vehicles, and its CEO resigned in the wake of the scandal.
The Volkswagen emissions scandal had far-reaching effects, not only on VW, but also on the wider auto industry and public trust in diesel-powered vehicles. It prompted increased scrutiny of diesel engines and the use of similar emission-cheating software by other car manufacturers, leading to similar controversies and investigations.
In the US, several executives from Volkswagen (VW) were charged with crimes related to the diesel emissions scandal.
In March 2017, VW engineer James Liang was sentenced to 40 months in prison and fined $200,000 for his role in the scandal. He was the first VW employee to be sentenced in the US for his involvement in the emissions cheating. Liang ended up serving 2/3rds of his sentence according to Manufacturing.net.
In August 2018, former VW executive Oliver Schmidt was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $400,000 for his role in the scandal. Schmidt was responsible for VW’s regulatory compliance in the US and had participated in the cover-up of the emissions cheating. Schmidt was not scheduled to be released from a U.S. prison until December 2022, but under the terms of a 2020 transfer agreement approved by Judge Elizabeth Stafford, Germany assumed responsibility for enforcing the remainder of his sentence.
While this is better than walking away scot-free, longer jail sentences should be imposed given that millions of people die each year from air pollution (not to mention the billions that this scandal has cost the company and unknowing shareholders). The scandal has also led to criminal investigations and fines in Europe, but no executives have been sentenced to jail there according to ChatGPT. Why haven’t we learned more from prior corporate scandals?
Man-Made PFAS Forever Chemicals
It has been alleged that DuPont and 3M, among other companies, covered up and lied about the harmful effects of the forever chemicals they invented and produced, specifically perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS).
PFOA and PFOS are part of a group of chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which are used in a variety of products, including non-stick cookware, food packaging, and firefighting foam. The chemicals have been found to persist in the environment for long periods of time and have been linked to a range of health problems, including cancer, thyroid disease, and developmental issues.
Studies have shown that DuPont and 3M knew about the potential health effects of PFAS for decades but continued to produce and use the chemicals in their products. The companies have faced lawsuits from individuals and communities who have been affected by PFAS contamination, and some of the settlements have included agreements to pay for clean-up and medical monitoring.
Both DuPont and 3M have publicly stated that they take the issue of PFAS seriously and are committed to addressing it. However, they have faced criticism for their handling of the issue and their past actions, which have contributed to widespread PFAS contamination across the US and around the world.
To my knowledge, there have not been any chemical company executives who have gone to jail for lying about and covering up the harmful effects of their chemicals, including PFAS chemicals like PFOA and PFOS.
While there have been numerous lawsuits and settlements related to the health effects of PFAS, the nature of corporate crime and the difficulty in proving individual wrongdoing make it challenging to bring corporate executives to justice. Additionally, many countries have relatively weak regulations and enforcement mechanisms for addressing corporate environmental and health violations, which can further hinder efforts to hold chemical companies accountable.
The issue of PFAS and the actions of chemical companies are increasingly being scrutinized by regulators, lawmakers, and the public, and there is growing pressure to hold companies accountable for the health and environmental impacts of their products. Whether this will result in criminal charges or jail time for executives remains to be seen.
Studies have suggested a possible association between exposure to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) chemicals and decreased fertility and reduced penis size, but the evidence is not yet definitive.
PFAS chemicals are widespread in the environment and have been found in the blood of nearly all Americans. They are known to have endocrine-disrupting properties, meaning they can interfere with hormone signaling in the body.
A number of studies have linked PFAS exposure to decreased sperm quality, infertility, and altered menstrual cycles in women. However, more research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms by which PFAS chemicals may affect fertility and penis size. The evidence at this point is mainly observational and some studies have reported conflicting results, but evidence has been increasing. While there are many factors that can influence fertility and penis size, the potential health impacts of PFAS exposure are a serious concern. Regulatory agencies and public health officials to continue monitoring and researching the issue to ensure that appropriate action is taken to protect public health.
In 2022, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dramatically lowered the safe lifetime exposure limit of PFAS substances to nearly zero in response to growing concerns about the potential health effects of these chemicals. The new levels are intended to better protect public health and provide a more robust framework for managing PFAS in the environment. The EPA’s actions reflect growing recognition of the potential health risks posed by PFAS and the need for stronger regulations and stricter enforcement to protect public health.
Asbestos
Asbestos companies have been accused of lying about the dangers of their products for many years.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that was widely used in construction and industrial products due to its fire-resistant and insulation properties. However, exposure to asbestos fibers can cause serious health problems, including lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis.
Despite the known dangers of asbestos, many asbestos companies continued to promote its use and downplay the health risks associated with exposure to the mineral. They were accused of suppressing evidence of the health hazards of asbestos, misleading the public about the dangers of their products, and failing to provide adequate warnings or protective equipment to workers who were exposed to asbestos fibers.
These actions by asbestos companies have had devastating consequences for workers and consumers, and the industry has faced numerous lawsuits and regulatory actions as a result. Nevertheless, asbestos remains a significant public health issue, and efforts to regulate the substance and hold companies accountable for their actions continue to this day.
According to ChatGPT, there have been very few cases where employees of asbestos companies have gone to jail.
Liability for the health problems caused by asbestos exposure has typically been placed on the companies themselves, rather than on individual employees. Companies have faced numerous lawsuits and paid billions of dollars in compensation to individuals and families who have been harmed by exposure to asbestos.
However, there have been some cases where individual employees of asbestos companies have faced criminal charges for illegal activities related to the handling and disposal of asbestos, such as violating environmental regulations or endangering public health. These individuals may have faced jail time as a result of their actions.
Overall, the asbestos industry’s history of misleading the public about the dangers of its products and failing to protect workers and consumers from exposure to asbestos fibers has had serious consequences, and has led to ongoing efforts to regulate the substance and hold companies accountable for their actions.
Had Asbestos company employees openly and honestly disclosed the known dangers as soon as they had become aware of them, it is likely that the judgements against these companies and the losses to shareholders would have been minimized. Of course effects on shareholders are speculative, especially if we stop allowing companies to split/reinvent themselves in an effort to create a pool of money to pay out to shareholders that is not subject to litigation.
Big Tobacco
Tobacco companies have been found to have lied about the effects of cigarettes and the chemicals they added to tobacco.
For decades, tobacco companies denied the health risks of smoking and engaged in a systematic effort to deceive the public and downplay the dangers of their products. They have been accused of adding chemicals to tobacco to make cigarettes more addictive, misleading the public about the health risks of smoking, and suppressing internal research that showed the dangers of tobacco use.
These actions have been well documented, and the tobacco industry has been held accountable through a series of lawsuits, regulatory actions, and settlements. In the United States, for example, the tobacco industry reached a landmark settlement with the federal government in 1998, in which they agreed to pay billions of dollars in damages and change the way they marketed their products.
Despite these efforts to hold the tobacco industry accountable, the impact of tobacco on public health remains a significant issue, with smoking being a leading cause of preventable death and disease globally. The actions of tobacco companies in misleading the public about the dangers of their products continue to raise serious concerns about the ethics of the industry and the need for strong regulations to protect public health.
Tobacco companies and their executives have faced numerous lawsuits, regulatory actions, and fines as a result of their actions in misleading the public about the health risks of smoking, suppressing internal research, and adding chemicals to make their products more addictive.
However, criminal charges and jail time have typically been reserved for individual executives who have engaged in illegal activities, such as fraud or embezzlement, rather than for the act of misleading the public about the health risks of their products. According to ChatGPT, no tobacco company executives have gone to jail for lying about the effects of their products.
Fool Me Once, Shame on You.
Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me.
When will we learn from our mistakes and throw “white collar” corporate criminals in jail when they knowingly kill millions of people? By allowing corporations to lie to, steal from and harm people with penalties that do not make th
Why are most of our laws and regulations too complex for most citizens and many government officials t0o understand? Does anyone benefit from this besides expensive attorneys and corrupt officials?
A simplified, ethics based legal system with a strong & fair rule of law would be easier to follow, more efficient and less subject to corruption than the complex legal frameworks that have developed in the last century.
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