I'm left wondering why democrats are generally portrayed as being in favor of more regulation and republicans in favor of less (in theory). It seems like liberals should want less regulation (and greater freedom). - Sanjeev Singh

Well, I would dispute the notion that deregulation=freedom. At least in the desirable sense of the word freedom. - Benjy Weinberger

interesting quote: "..once you engage the psychology of teams, it shuts down open-minded thinking." - MikeAmundsen

Good point Benjy, I suppose a lot of people on the left want more regulation to (ironically) protect freedom, and people on the right want more regulation to increase conformity (gay marriage, etc.). I was thinking of regulation purely in the latter sense. - Sanjeev Singh

very bold statement: "our 'righteous minds' were designed to: 1) unite us into teams; 2) divide us against other teams; and 3) blind us to the truth." that's a lot for me to accept. - MikeAmundsen

@Singh: when you consider Haidt's point about fairness/harm focus for liberals, regulation makes more sense. same for liberal's low focus on ingroup and authority. regulation can be seen as a way to increase fairness and downlplay group domination over the individual. doesn't always turn out that way, tho. - MikeAmundsen

Apparently you've been blinded to the truth Mike :) - Paul Buchheit

I want smarter regulation, not more or less. - Alex Scoble

@Paul: +1 - MikeAmundsen

+bunches to Alex - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

@Alex: for me, it's also about *who* is 'regulated.' gov't? business? citizens? and the same for who is protected via a regulation. more/less reg is not the only measure, eh? - MikeAmundsen

Very true, Mike...we tend to express things in linear terms (liberal vs conservative, more vs less regulation, red vs blue, etc.) when things in the world aren't linear like that. We are pretty good as a species at boiling down the complex into the simple, but sometimes things get lost in that process. There is no us vs them...there is just us. - Alex Scoble

@Alex: i'm with ya. +1 - MikeAmundsen

"+1" seems linear to me. - Amit Patel

I think it's more fundamental. Economic deregulation allows those in economic power to keep power (Golden rule = "He who has the gold makes the rules"). From the talk, conservative's desire for status quo and respect for authority. Liberal's advocate for the weak, those without power (fight the man!). Therein lies the regulatory disconnect. Whether government is supposed to protect the weak from the powerful and force change or provide deference for those who are powerful in search of stability. - mikepk

@Michael: removing regulations that keep prices artificially high for a set of producers can have the effect of killing a business sector. maintaining regs that prop up a set of producers can allow others to undercut the market and cause the same effect. reg!=status-quo - MikeAmundsen

@MikeAmundsen I was responding to Singh as to why liberals may be painted as more pro-reg vs conservatives. Yes, you're right, regulation is not a black and white thing, but the regulations most fought by those with power (minimum wage, social security, union protection etc...) are protections for the weak against the powerful. Subsidies and other market manipulations are more subtle. - mikepk

@Michael: i see, we're cool. - MikeAmundsen

Both liberals and conservatives make the mistake of assuming that government (or any institution) WILL do what it "should" do. - Paul Buchheit