Well now, the title of my article here sounds like something out of the Sci Fi Novel "1984" or Star Trek's Borg doesn't it? And the whole termination theme almost makes one fear the future of AI computers running SkyNet! But in reality I'd like to talk about on-going education requirements for licensed professionals in our society. Okay so, let's talk. Many are applauding the Franks-Dodds Financial Law, but I certainly wouldn't be one of them. Sure there are some decent parts in it, but like any piece of legislation coming out of Washington DC, it's riddled and filled with whatever the industry lobbyists also wanted. Now then, it totally pleases me that George Soros is making a big stink about it, but I am unconvinced that it wasn't so great for the investing public, banking consumers, or small business. Surely, it served the big banks well, those "too big to fail" folks, which it was supposedly trying to curtail, but in the end it hurt all the little banks, which are left out in the cold, and I guess okay'ed to be shipped to the slaughter house as needed, all in the name of financial regulations to protect all of us out here. The other day, I was talking to a financial planner sitting in Starbucks, she seemed depressed, stressed, and under duress. As we got to talking she was explaining all the new rules in the industry and the future challenges with increased regulations. She said; "It's like submit or be terminated" - and she explained that she spent one-third of her time doing on-going education, and government mandated compliance, rather than actually helping her many clients. As she described all of the insanity, and much of the new rules with the Franks-Dodds Financial Law, it was if she was a deja vu from the past, during the days of Sarbaines-Oxley. More rules, more regulation, more costs, more paperwork, all to do exactly the same thing you'd been doing all along, just more forms, fees, fines, and frustration. Now then, let's ask ourselves; why does the government require and give out licenses? So they can take them away, maintain authority, and control the industry. They tell us they are doing this to protect the consumers and public from fraud. Okay, that's what we are led to believe, and yet, when someone comes and steals something from you, in this case "time" then how does that protect you? Last time I checked financial planners were a good idea in this society of spendthrifts, financially naοve, and irresponsible people. They are helping people, so why are we hurting them, and threatening to take away their livelihood if they don't submit to authority, and comply with endless over regulation, and take 100s of hours of on-going education classes? Well, no one to date has ever been able to give me a good explanation on such topics, at least a legitimate one that is. So, please consider all this and think on it. |
