It's important to have standards

Of all the crackpot ideas promoted by the libertarian movement over the past few decades, perhaps the dumbest is the notion that there’s something sinister about a society, through its government, setting professional standards.
To the true libertarian, any time a government entity establishes standards and requires licensing for a profession, freedom is being unduly stifled.
Economic liberty is encroached upon when the state requires barbers or beauticians or plumbers or electricians to be certified as having attained a degree of knowledge and mastery of their trade. To the true libertarian, that sort of licensing system — which has been around for at least a century — kills jobs and smothers innovation.
After all, says the true libertarian, if someone wants to go into business as a barber or a beautician or a plumber or an electrician, why should the state be involved at all? The market will sort it out.
Those licensing systems, the libertarian argues, merely exist as a vestige of the old trade guilds. It’s simply a way of protecting the jobs of those who are licensed.
If that sounds stupid, that’s because it is.
Professional licensing laws exist not to protect the jobs of a privileged few. They exist to protect society in general.
Need a plumber? You want one who understands plumbing.
Need a real estate broker? You want one with an understanding of the real estate market.
Goofy as this idea is, it has found traction in places like the Indiana General Assembly.
It wasn’t all that long ago that barbers and beauticians had to storm the Statehouse to try to make legislators understand that professional standards matter. They have consequences, particularly when it comes to basic things like sanitation.
But while the barbers and beauticians made their point, lawmakers have eagerly embraced the equally ridiculous notion that anyone can be a teacher or a school administrator.
Little things like an understanding of the differences in the way kids learn or a grasp of how to manage a classroom aren’t such a big deal these days, at least in the eyes of Indiana’s legislators.
The only difference is that the barbers and beauticians succeeded in putting lawmakers on the hot seat.
These days, teachers don’t have that much clout; they’ve become a favorite political scapegoat.
Then again, maybe having a good haircut ranks higher with the Indiana General Assembly than having a first-rate education. — J.R.