I had breakfast recently with one of my oldest and longest friends who happens to be a staunch gay libertarian married to a much younger Pillipino gentleman.

His belief that the market would make consumer regulations unnecessary befuddles me. He seems to believe that a company that manufactures a product, knowing it's harmful, will go out of business if the product harms people...and that a person who is harmed by the product can seek redress through the justice system.

I've asked him how a person gets satisfaction from a litigious company that can drag out the case past the person's expiration date (a lot of people have expired from cancer before a settlement is paid out) or is killed outright (ford pinto). He also has no idea the impact of millions of lawsuits that do not happen because regulations prevent harm and corporate malfeasance.

And now I wonder what he will do if his marriage is nullified and/or his husband is deemed deportable.

Humans are greedy; many don't stop "eating" when they are full. We are one of the few species that kill anything for fun. Libertarianism is survival of the fittest. Truly regressive.

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