You raise a valid point. I suspect that professional associations are neither superior nor inferior to government regulation. Perhaps it's best when both exist

You raise a valid point. I suspect that professional associations are neither superior nor inferior to government regulation. Perhaps it's best when both exist to the most useful extent necessary, and no more. (I guess that's a trivially true statement; sorry.) Government is susceptible to lobbying by interested parties (thinking about hoteliers vs Airbnb). Professional organizations are susceptible to antitrust (thinking about Wilk vs AMA) and perhaps to perpetuating the problem they are designed to solve.