You are mistaken. Without government regulations anyone could say they were a doctor, but that would not make them a doctor. Free markets have regulations, just not government regulations. For instance, UL listing is not a government regulation, it is a regulation imposed by the marketplace. I am sure you know of people who passed the patent bar, but their weak technical background meant they got no business – if not call me I know many such examples.

Government directed economies always are a disaster. (see USSR, North Korea and the present meltdown in the USA caused by the government, not by the market) You cannot replace the information in a market based pricing system with a bureaucrat. The government’s job is not to run the economy – see the Declaration of Independence. It is to secure our natural rights.

However, “economics” as currently taught in the universities, intentionally hides away and refuses to deal with so-called “externalities. It also washes its hands of the physical realities imposed by Mother Nature and instead pretends that a Brainless Invisible Hand can intelligently guide an unstable and not well understood machine that is subject to frequent bubbles and collapses thereof.

If there were no “regulations” then anybody could set up shop as a medical doctor or a patent attorney or a patent examiner. Whatever they want. Example: Bring all your patent applications to my lemonade stand and I will instantly stamp them as “approved and granted” for 5 cents apiece –and I will give you a sip of my newly mixed Kool Aid as well at no additional charge. Ignore that fellow next door who does it for 4 cents. He is an unregulated scoundrel and scam artist. /end sarcasm

De-regulation: While I fear that many so-called free market people would make your argument, it is like saying deregulation means getting rid of property rights or eliminating contract law. De-regulation means getting rid of regulations that are in conflict with property rights or (natural rights).

@Dale,

As a physicist, you should know better.
Economics is not a “science” and nothing within it has been “proven”.

Entropy is a grand scale phenomenon that we can’t avoid.
We can create the illusion that entropy is being defied in a tiny bound region, but overall, the Hubble constant continues its relentless march towards the Final Whimper (the counterpart to the Big Bang).

With that said, we both agree that encouraging invention by having a strong patent system is a good thing.

It is unfortunate that the laws of entropy drive Congress and the Courts toward chaos and dismemberment of the patent system we used to have. This ain’t our forefather’s world anymore. Welcome to the 2nd Dark Ages.

(If you want “proof” of the second coming, just count the number of clowns on the dais of the last GOP presidential debate. “De-regulation” is just another way of saying no more Patent Office.)

Comparing Ron Paul to Marxist is just absurd. Paul may be mistaken on issues, but he is not pushing death as the Marxist are.

We need a government to protect our Natural Rights and nothing else. The government does not have to build and maintain roads. Epidemics can be dealt with by a government and the people without violating anyone’s natural rights.

In the spirit of the Holiday season I suggest we both “step back” and cool it rather than bouncing between extremist point and counterpoint.

The Floundering Fathers were wise in realizing that there need to be checks and counterbalances against any extremist movement. Ron Paul libertarians are part of an extremist movement and so are Marxist style socialists.

We need a government and taxes because roads need to be built and maintained, fires need to be put out and epidemics stopped in their tracks. Of course we cannot have an overly oppressive government that totally stifles individual freedoms. A tenuous balance has to be struck.

With that, let us close this round of debate with wishes of peace and good will for all men (, women and children too).

You are clearly wrong about “No one said that you should put your welfare underneath and subservient to the needs of others.That is absurd.”

Our government does this and says this everyday. I have to pay for other people’s kids to go to college before I can put my kid’s in college (Taxes have to be paid first). I have to pay for Solyndra before I can pay for my house. I have to pay for the starving kids in Africa before I can take a vacation. And the US is comparatively more on the Freedom side than Slavery side. We have a worldwide epidemic of slavery.

You are just wrong on this point.

As for leaving the world a little better, I quote Adam Smith

By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.

I will add one caveat, but the justification for Freedom is not that it furthers the goals of society, it is that slavery is wrong.

Happy New Year to you and yours.

Happy and healthy Holidays to you and all your loved ones.

I happen to be of the Jewish faith and we have a thing called “Teekune Olam” which sort of matches up with the Christian idea of being a good steward of the Earth.

The idea is that each generation should strive to leave the world in a slightly better state than it was when one came into to this world. In other words, yes, I am my brother’s keeper and not only my brother of this generation but that of my children and their brothers of the next generation.

It sort of makes logical sense.
Leaving the world in exactly the same condition as when you entered is next to impossible.
So the only other two options are leaving it in a worse condition or leaving it in a better condition.

We owe so much to the many giants (as Sir Isaac Newton called them) who came before us and built the infrastructure we now enjoy. They “passed it forward” to us, and out of fairness we have an obligation to try and pass forward to next generations similar gifts of improved wealth and betterment.

In other words, it’s not just about me and getting mine and the heck with everybody else.

No one said that you should put your welfare underneath and subservient to the needs of others.
That is absurd.
Of course you need to take care of number one first.
But with that said, there is a balance as with all things.

When an inventor invents, he does it in the form of a “balance” where he is enriched and the rest of the world is enriched as well.

You might want to pose your arguments as saying that it can’t be all the other way around, where just the rest of the world gets enriched but the original inventor gets nothing or hardly anything at all.

MERRY XMAS, Peace, and a prosperous New Year to you and yours.