Self Regulation=No Socialism=Hurray!

Hello everybody!
I know I've been absent for about a week. Suffice to say--things were a tad busy.
Sorry.

But now I would like to bore you all, again, with more industry jargon!

So, if you click the title to this post, it will direct you to an article about how the advertising industry is talking about self-regulating itself so that the government stops looking at it with one of those looks on it's face which basically means "...Do you really want a spanking? You're gonna make me hit you? Seriously?"

So the article is pretty short and fairly interesting and at the end of the article the Author, Frank Reed, asks readers to comment about basically what they think about self-regulation. What policies they think might/should be implemented. Things of that nature. I wrote a lengthy response which is viewable at the bottom of the page, but I'm going to try to re-write it a little cleaner here. It will probably bore everyone...And I'm going to love it!


"The self-regulation of industry has proven to not only be extremely effective but also to act, in many ways, in the better interest of affected parties.

If the advertising industry is trying to resist government intervention, then perhaps they will create their own innovative solutions to problems rather than having a government organization create a ruling which could potentially damage the industry. This method allows advertisers the ability to create regulations and policies that are both effective and, possibly, healthier for business.

Also, from the standpoint of the industry, this action of self-regulation gives them far greater power in the making of the regulations–They will have the greatest amount of say in the creation of the actual policies. Not to mention that, had they been regulated by the government, the policy would seem like something of a reprimand. But if they make they’re own policies, then it’s more like they’re making concessions out of the “goodness of their hearts” and, in truth, are likely to be able to get away with dealing with some issues less harshly than they would be, had the policy been created by a government agency.

Another important point in the argument for self-regulation is that, so far as anyone cares, self-regulated laws are, by and large, followed with far greater discipline. If the government makes a bunch of policies that act as a detriment to the industry, then everyone is going to wheedle their way around them and find sneaky ways to circumvent them. But, as is fairly common knowledge, if they make the rules, they are far more likely to follow them. Especially if their more likely to be judged by “brothers” in the industry, if they act too maliciously against the policies.
[A point that I had been trying to make clear here is that people wont circumvent their own regulations. It's just silly. But if the government makes the regulations into actual 'laws', then they will be non-self imposed and people are going to be more willing to avoid them. For example, I have no problem J-walking. I would have no problem if my kids learn to J-walk. No problem. But if I'm trying to teach my kids to be safer and instill a precedent in them that will keep them safe for the rest of their lives? Then I will never J-walk again! Because it's ME who's making a regulation. Not some omnipotent big brother with a strange proclivity for orderly pedestrian traffic across public roads. Get it?]

The final point is this–Who cares if they self regulate? Especially in this example! If they fail to regulate appropriately, then the government WILL step in and the industry will get a swift kick to the hind-quarters. So why not save the time, money, and frustration and just let them do it themselves. If they fail to dissuade the government’s watchful eye, then they’ll get what’s coming anyways.

For the above reasons, though, no one in the industry should want governmental interference and, therefore, we should expect the policies that they create to be strong, good for business, good for the consumer, and, most importantly, strictly self-enforced.
It’s worked in other media industries.[Like the enforcement of non-obscene and graphic material in certain modes of media.] Why not this one?"


See now? That wasn't too bad at all, eh?
I just have to hope it makes sense.
I think I'm going to pack this one up early. I'll be posting sometime tomorrow with a more mundane look at my life over the past week or so.
Have a good day everybody!