We Must Guard Against Legislative Omnipotence

The idea that passing laws can create an ideal society is misguided if it ends up suppressing people’s freedom and reducing social benefits. Most of the wrongdoing committed by the 21st National Assembly is also the result of legislative omnipotence—the push to force through bad laws.

If more legislation only causes the economy to deteriorate further and makes people’s lives more difficult, then it may actually be better for lawmakers to do less. Even so, the public encourages legislators to work hard on lawmaking because they trust in their good intentions.

The problem is that when those good intentions are misunderstood and laws are enacted with coercive power that suppresses freedom, liberty is ultimately diminished and social welfare declines. This is the tragedy produced by the belief that the public good can be created through legislation.

Moreover, when such laws are anti-market and anti-capitalist, the harm is severe. Because they suppress freedom through legal force, they quickly drive the economic system into a socialist trap. The notion that an ideal society can be achieved by legally imposing it is precisely what makes society sick.

The 21st National Assembly has churned out the Yellow Envelope Act (Revised Labor Commission Act), the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, and the three major business regulation laws. The more vigorously the National Assembly pursued such misguided legislation, the more jobs were destroyed, businesses were stifled, and the economy was driven to the brink of collapse. This is why the 21st National Assembly is being called the worst Assembly.

If the National Assembly had legislated well, jobs would have increased, capital would have been invested, and the economy would have shown resilience. The problem is that politicians fell into anti-economic thinking, treated businesses and capital as enemies, and engaged in legislative activity that prioritized the interests of labor groups and political organizations. As a result, the economy has fallen into a state from which recovery is impossible. Destroying jobs while funneling benefits to privileged groups is nothing more than the corruption of politics.

The public good cannot be achieved by taking away the people’s freedom. It is created through the sum of individuals’ free activity and voluntary cooperation. Only when freedom is protected and expanded can welfare improve and society secure stability.

A society that legally forces the wishes of particular groups upon everyone is one that drives civilization backward. Most of today’s underdeveloped countries are nations that were sacrificed after having their freedom taken away by such particular groups. Rather than strengthening the privileges of labor organizations and forcing them on everyone, the right kind of politics—and the desirable approach to legislation—is to protect individuals’ freedom of action and safeguard their property.

The path to a better society becomes possible when legislation embodies the universal values of humanity, with freedom placed as the highest value. Only when the National Assembly breaks away from misguided legislation that suppresses freedom will our society once again be full of vitality.

Sung-no Choi, President of the Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: 입법만능주의를 경계해야

Author: Sung-no Choi

Date: 2023-12-08

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=press&idx=26274