[otterley]

Respectfully, I think you have too much faith in the ability and general desire of individuals to protect themselves. Consider how successful scams and security breaches are. Consider, too, the unequal bargaining power between vendors and individual consumers (have you ever tried to negotiate a form contract with a megacorporation?).

We protect people because they have failed. These regulations tend to follow actual injuries; they are rarely promulgated in anticipation of them.

[eru]

> Consider, too, the unequal bargaining power between vendors and individual consumers (have you ever tried to negotiate a form contract with a megacorporation?).

You don't negotiate the contents of your burger with McDonald's. If you don't like it, you go to Burger King or have a Döner Kebab.

There's plenty of tacit negotiations here.

> We protect people because they have failed. These regulations tend to follow actual injuries; they are rarely promulgated in anticipation of them.

Homeopathic medicine tend to follow actual health problems, too. That doesn't mean they are a good idea.

[otterley]

> You don't negotiate the contents of your burger with McDonald's. If you don't like it, you go to Burger King or have a Döner Kebab.

Not every industry is a competitive one with practically unlimited choices. Natural monopolies or industries with high barriers to entry tend to have the most leverage over their customers. Most people have only a single electricity provider, and there are only two major mobile OS vendors worth speaking of.

> Homeopathic medicine tend to follow actual health problems, too. That doesn't mean they are a good idea.

Some work; some don’t. The key is figuring out which solutions are effective and which aren’t. Nobody is proposing keeping fixes around whose costs aren’t worth the benefits to society.