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The irony is seemingly lost on columnist Jonny Steinberg when he writes that unregulated polling in SA is “a natural experiment in a world without regulation” (“Polling ‘experts’ need to be regulated — and come clean”, May 3). He is himself already the change he wants to see in the world.
Steinberg goes on to explain precisely why the pollsters he desperately wants regulated are in fact wrong, and points out that press editors are not exercising good enough judgment when deciding which results to publish. There are, then, already two viable solutions to Steinberg’s problem: fight bad polls with better polls and good arguments, and inculcate in editors a greater sense of responsibility.
Why Steinberg rushes, like ActionSA, to calling for government coercion — that is, after all, what lurks beneath every piece of legislation and regulation — is not known. “There ought to be a law!” has become the motto of the 21st century’s naive do-gooder. These people regard the law as some magical force that sets right all the wrong in the world.
The reality is that law is violent business. Even the most mundane-seeming law, if ignored, means someone could go to prison, or if they resist to an early grave. This is not something to take lightly. SA is already an over-criminalised society with too many laws and regulations, meaning too many — both explicit and implicit — crimes. The Free Market Foundation’s Section 12 Initiative (section12.org.za) is shedding light on why this overzealous regulation of voluntary conduct needs to be speedily reversed rather than further extended.
See a poll you think is wrong? It is your duty as an active citizen to use your voice, like Steinberg has, to point out the problems. Leave government and its regulatory violence aside.
Martin van Staden Free Market Foundation
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Overzealous regulation
The irony is seemingly lost on columnist Jonny Steinberg when he writes that unregulated polling in SA is “a natural experiment in a world without regulation” (“Polling ‘experts’ need to be regulated — and come clean”, May 3). He is himself already the change he wants to see in the world.
Steinberg goes on to explain precisely why the pollsters he desperately wants regulated are in fact wrong, and points out that press editors are not exercising good enough judgment when deciding which results to publish. There are, then, already two viable solutions to Steinberg’s problem: fight bad polls with better polls and good arguments, and inculcate in editors a greater sense of responsibility.
Why Steinberg rushes, like ActionSA, to calling for government coercion — that is, after all, what lurks beneath every piece of legislation and regulation — is not known. “There ought to be a law!” has become the motto of the 21st century’s naive do-gooder. These people regard the law as some magical force that sets right all the wrong in the world.
The reality is that law is violent business. Even the most mundane-seeming law, if ignored, means someone could go to prison, or if they resist to an early grave. This is not something to take lightly. SA is already an over-criminalised society with too many laws and regulations, meaning too many — both explicit and implicit — crimes. The Free Market Foundation’s Section 12 Initiative (section12.org.za) is shedding light on why this overzealous regulation of voluntary conduct needs to be speedily reversed rather than further extended.
See a poll you think is wrong? It is your duty as an active citizen to use your voice, like Steinberg has, to point out the problems. Leave government and its regulatory violence aside.
Martin van Staden
Free Market Foundation
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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JONNY STEINBERG: Polling ‘experts’ need to be regulated — and come clean
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