People are Mostly Good

19 Dec

I believe almost all people are good, caring, and generous. Of the others, most of them are indifferent or at least not motivated to do bad things. I also believe that the remaining, very small percentage, are unlikely to honor any law preventing them from doing whatever they will do.

I believe our legislative and regulatory regimes should operate with the above assumptions. Any regulation or legislation which is built on the assumptions that most people have bad intent, or are too stupid to manage their own lives, is inherently immoral and destined to cause more harm than good. Legislation and regulation should be there only to punish the use of force, in all its various forms. Courts should be there to adjudicate contractual disputes. Everything else is, at best, a waste or, more likely, harmful.