As I see it, the story here isn't "wow barbers in rhode island have too much power" the story is "why did we abandon them so badly they were driven to this extr

As I see it, the story here isn't "wow barbers in rhode island have too much power" the story is "why did we abandon them so badly they were driven to this extreme?" This situation exists because barbers managed to organize enough to get their profession enshrined in law in a way that protects their wages. Making a skilled but underpaid profession into a reasonably well paid one. If the US had decent baseline wages and protections for workers, barbers wouldn't have to go to great lengths to protect themselves at the cost of stupid hoops for anyone trying to enter the profession. It's like in a western, where some town on the frontier - ignored by the government and civil society - turns to a gang of outlaws for protection. Extreme circumstances lead to extreme solutions.