Finally. A major victory for common sense

Guest Post by Simon Black

In a major victory for common sense, a group of cosmetologists defeated an insanely stupid regulation passed down by the state of Louisiana.

Louisiana, just like the other 49 states in the Land of the Free, governs licensing requirements for dozens… hundreds of professions… ranging from athletic trainers to tour guides to barbers and cosmetologists.

And most of the time the licensing requirements are just plain idiotic.

In Louisiana, for example, the State Board of Cosmetology had formerly required an unbelievable 750 hours of training (which costs thousands of dollars) simply to be able to thread eyebrows.

(If you’re like me and totally unfamiliar with eyebrow threading, check out this video. You’ll probably agree that 750 hours of training is totally ridiculous.)

And so, in conjunction with the Institute for Justice, several Louisiana-based cosmetologists filed a lawsuit against the Board.

The Board backed down… passing a new regulation exempting eyebrow threaders from such pointless licensing requirements.

One down. 2,214 to go.

That’s right. According to the Institute of Justice’s study License to Work, there are over two thousand licensing requirements across the Land of the Free… and that’s just for low income jobs like manicurists or floor sanders. We’re not even talking about doctors and dentists here.

Another study from the Brookings Institute shows that nearly 30% of US workers require some sort of state license. That’s up from just 5% in the 1950s.

Many of the licenses truly defy any logic whatsoever.

The State of Michigan, for example, sees fit to require 467 days of education and training to receive a barber’s license, but only 26 days to be a licensed Emergency Medical Technician.

The State of California requires aspiring tree trimmers to have 1,460 days of education and training. But pre-school teachers only require 365 days.

The District of Columbia requires 2,190 days of education and training to be an Interior Designer, but ZERO days to be a school bus driver.

The State of Iowa requires 1,460 days for athletic trainers, but just 370 for dental assistants.

What exactly are these people trying to tell us about their priorities? Trees and furniture are more important than children? Hair is more important than health? Abs are more important than teeth?

It’s all quite bizarre.

But there is one occupation I noticed that is conspicuously absent from this list.

And it’s a big one.

Not a single state in the union has a licensing requirement for this profession.

And that’s an incredible irony given that this occupation gets to tell the rest of the occupations how much training they require.

Did you figure it out?

It’s politicians.

Just think about it: Barbers and manicurists require hundreds of hours of training.

But the people who have the power to pass idiotic legislation, waste taxpayer funds, declare war, tell us what we can/cannot put in our own bodies, and regulate every aspect of our lives, don’t even have to be literate.

(And judging by some of the laws they pass, that may very well be the case.)

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