4 ms·

This news has been circulating on the internet for a long time and it is indeed real, but the question is, if people want to buy something, they will look for a

This news has been circulating on the internet for a long time and it is indeed real, but the question is, if people want to buy something, they will look for alternatives.

BrtByte 4mo ago
People will definitely look for alternatives, but that doesn't make regulation pointless
- PowerElectronix 4mo ago
  It helps funding the EU and little else.
  - Eric_Bulai 4mo ago
    Regulation slows down the problem, but demand creates the solution so it doesn't really matter.
    - dangus 4mo ago
      This is a nuance-free take. There’s zero demand for products that are hiding safety issues that nobody was seeking out (e.g., toys with lead paint, batteries that explode) Demand for illegal things isn’t in a vacuum. It’s hard to enact prohibition on alcohol or cannabis (extremely easy to produce) versus prohibiting something more complicated to make, difficult to smuggle, or less desirable to buy. If my government bans Crocs am I going to go through the engineering effort to make them myself? Plus, if I go outside the cops will see my illegal Crocs very quickly. I have plenty of alternatives to Crocs and most of them are better. Most likely, I won’t even think about the ban. We have a good example with incandescent light bulbs. I don’t know anyone who has attempted to violate the ban on home incandescent light bulbs. The whole “everything should be legal anyway because there will always be a black market” philosophy is not a universal truth and we need to stop assuming that it makes sense.
      - Detrytus 4mo ago
        > We have a good example with incandescent light bulbs. I don’t know anyone who has attempted to violate the ban on home incandescent light bulbs. Funny, because I remember that when this ban was first introduced in my country there actually was a black market for incandescent light bulbs. Some stores would keep selling them as “special purpose” or “vibration-resistant”. It only ended when LED bulbs appeared on the market, because they are strictly superior product (not like fluorescent ones EU tried to promote earlier)
        dangus 4mo ago
        And how big was that black market for incandescent light bulbs? What would have happened to it when supply of incandescent bulbs dried up as manufacturers stopped making them? Were there any homebrew incandescent lightbulbs? You’re actually demonstrating my point here: when you ban or regulate something, there are a lot of things that go into whether a significant amount of people try to circumvent that ban. It’s not an automatic free for all thriving black market. One reason not to circumvent a regulation is when it results in improvement of the status quo or when better alternatives to the banned item already existed.
  - tgv 4mo ago
    Here's your chlorine chicken burger, now with extra chlorine. That'll be $39,95 please.
    - namibj 4mo ago
      Plus tax no we can't tell you before you order.
  - izacus 4mo ago
    Having the Chinese fund EU is an amazing idea from my European perspective. Let's do more of that.
tgv 4mo ago
If people want to be healthy and live, they wouldn't smoke, drink, use meth, gamble, etc. What the people might rationally want, is not what drives the market. The infamous invisible hand is just addiction.

This news has been circulating on the internet for a long time and it is indeed real, but the question is, if people want to buy something, they will look for alternatives.

BrtByte 4mo ago

People will definitely look for alternatives, but that doesn't make regulation pointless

PowerElectronix 4mo ago
It helps funding the EU and little else.
- Eric_Bulai 4mo ago
  Regulation slows down the problem, but demand creates the solution so it doesn't really matter.
  - dangus 4mo ago
    This is a nuance-free take. There’s zero demand for products that are hiding safety issues that nobody was seeking out (e.g., toys with lead paint, batteries that explode) Demand for illegal things isn’t in a vacuum. It’s hard to enact prohibition on alcohol or cannabis (extremely easy to produce) versus prohibiting something more complicated to make, difficult to smuggle, or less desirable to buy. If my government bans Crocs am I going to go through the engineering effort to make them myself? Plus, if I go outside the cops will see my illegal Crocs very quickly. I have plenty of alternatives to Crocs and most of them are better. Most likely, I won’t even think about the ban. We have a good example with incandescent light bulbs. I don’t know anyone who has attempted to violate the ban on home incandescent light bulbs. The whole “everything should be legal anyway because there will always be a black market” philosophy is not a universal truth and we need to stop assuming that it makes sense.
    - Detrytus 4mo ago
      > We have a good example with incandescent light bulbs. I don’t know anyone who has attempted to violate the ban on home incandescent light bulbs. Funny, because I remember that when this ban was first introduced in my country there actually was a black market for incandescent light bulbs. Some stores would keep selling them as “special purpose” or “vibration-resistant”. It only ended when LED bulbs appeared on the market, because they are strictly superior product (not like fluorescent ones EU tried to promote earlier)
      - dangus 4mo ago
        And how big was that black market for incandescent light bulbs? What would have happened to it when supply of incandescent bulbs dried up as manufacturers stopped making them? Were there any homebrew incandescent lightbulbs? You’re actually demonstrating my point here: when you ban or regulate something, there are a lot of things that go into whether a significant amount of people try to circumvent that ban. It’s not an automatic free for all thriving black market. One reason not to circumvent a regulation is when it results in improvement of the status quo or when better alternatives to the banned item already existed.
- tgv 4mo ago
  Here's your chlorine chicken burger, now with extra chlorine. That'll be $39,95 please.
  - namibj 4mo ago
    Plus tax no we can't tell you before you order.
- izacus 4mo ago
  Having the Chinese fund EU is an amazing idea from my European perspective. Let's do more of that.

tgv 4mo ago

If people want to be healthy and live, they wouldn't smoke, drink, use meth, gamble, etc. What the people might rationally want, is not what drives the market. The infamous invisible hand is just addiction.