If we live in a free society, why do so many faceless bureaucrats try to control everything we do?

Question

Controls exist for every part of daily life and many of the rules are rediculous.

Who are the people that dream them up and why do they belive they know better than the rest of us if we didn't vote or ask for them?

I am not talking about governments that we can vote for or against but the people who every day meddle in our lives with petty rules and regulations.

Answer 1

This is one of the best questions that I have seen on here ... and a great point to boot! You are absolutely right in what you say ... I work in local government in the enforcement sector and every day I find myself cutting out the red tape to deal with people as human beings and not simply showering them with bureaucracy! Having said that I feel that I am in the minority here.
It is so true that between waking up and going to sleep everyday, you can be subject to a whole host of petty regulations and enforcement in your life ..... someone said to me recently that she thinks all this will lead to riot and revolution one day where people will simply force such heavy-handedness to change.
Why does this happen ? Possibly because we evolve daily and find better ways to do things .... or so we think ...... possibly we feel that as life becomes harder, people need to be controlled more, hence the faceless bureaucracy that appears to mushroom!
Picture this ... you are back in the middle ages with a horse and cart ..... fill that scene with parking regulations, road regulations, noise regulations, animal rights regulations, lighting and high visibility regulations, licensing regulations, the suitability and roadworthiness of your cart, customs and revenue regulations, road tolls, etc etc and you would have a nightmare to behold. But today that is pretty much what we have to grin and bear!
Sometimes all we need is a simpler life, eh?

Answer 2

Quoted from you-"I am not talking about governments that we can vote for or against but the people who every day meddle in our lives with petty rules and regulations."

Sir..you /can/ vote against these laws, people.

Most laws are there for a reason, and the reason is stupid people. If you didn't have immature, careless people committing so many crimes, maybe you wouldn't have so many laws.

It's like washing machines say "do not let kids play in". DOH common sense 101. But the truth behind it is, some mom sued, and won a case because her little kid died in a washing machine. It's sad, but you pay for other's mistakes. Harsher criminal punishments, and public executions might change this. But human rights activists CRY out against this, and then throw a fit because a crime is commited.

Answer 3

Three points:
(1) A free society is one defined by several freedoms, among which are:
(i) Freedom of speech (citizens and journalists may say or print what they choose, so long as it is accurate and verifiable)
(ii) Freedom of information (the state does not deny access to certain subjects; although this must be tempered with regard to state security—probably the most-abused pretext for state censorship/repression in Western governments)
(iii) Freedom of religion (citizens can practise whatever creed or religion they choose, so long as they do no harm to others)
(iv) Freedom of thought (scientific research is not legislated)
(v) Freedom of access to basic human rights e.g. education, healthcare, legal representation (not dependent on someone's personal/family connections, or ability to pay)

(2) "Freedom" does not mean the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, with/to whomever you want. If it did, then all criminals e.g serial killers, rapists, terrorists, etc. could just claim they were exercising their freedom. (If they do, then your criminal justice system is SNAFU'd).

If you want "freedom", you have to accept responsibility for exercising that freedom in a manner that minimises the harm (or likelihood of harm) done to the people and the world around you. Sadly, a lot of people these days don't do that. (Be honest: when was the last time anyone reading this e.g. broke a speed limit, or dumped some trash, instead of disposing of it correctly?)

(3) Laws are only suggested by the "faceless bureaucrats", usually in response to people abusing the concept of freedom, but they are generally passed by the elected government, as voted for by the majority of the voting electorate.

In today's so-called free democratic societies, the percentage of the electorate who actually exercise their right to vote is generally horrifically low. How much of the American electorate voted in the last Presidential election, to put "the most powerful man on the planet" into office? 50%? 55%?

Citizenry gets the government it deserves, and if 50% of the voting population don't vote, that's 50% who've got absolutely no grounds to complain about the outcome. If someone refuses to participate in their own governance, then they have no right to complain when someone else tries to do it instead, e.g. by passing laws that they don't like, or that restrict their "freedom".

Time to put up or shut up, I think...

Answer 4

Then we are not free.

How free can we be? How free can anyone be? If its not possible to be free, then maybe there might be increasing shades of freedom. I'm thinking in this direction, do you think that by following the rules, we may make ourselves slightly more freer? And the better we understand and follow the rules then the greater the freedoms we can have. Meaning that, if you were to join the ranks of the beurocrats and 'meddlers' (maybe the ranks of the public servants, teachers, health visitors, doctors, police, local government...) you might have greater freedoms? Think about it.

Answer 5

It is because some people think they have the right to control another person,, A perfect example is the smoke free organizations, they want to control everybody in the country,
But what they dont realize is that people are going to smoke no matter what they say or do,,

Answer 6

You have a choice , big government Or small government !!
The bigger the government , the more faceless BURRO-CRATES running your life from the sidelines ,the higher the taxes , the less efficient way of doing things .

Liberals support BIG GOV , Conservatives favor small GOV .

Answer 7

Government is the greatest amount of power with the smallest amount of accountability. You know this. If you're spending someone else's money, you don't look at the price tag.

Answer 8

Oh, well, if we're not talking about governments then I guess you don't want me to say the Republicans are responsible...

Answer 9

Freedom has a high price and someone has to pay. Thats the American way.

Answer 10

Free society my @rse there's cameras on every corner.