Back when I was reading REASON Magazine of libertarian fame, I ran across the concept (I forget the name) of “regulatory capture.” The basic idea is that regulatory agencies are supposed to regulate the behavior of their subject entities, but the entities will then maneuver to “capture” the agency and thus obviate the agencies’ goals and efficacy. The libertarians seemed to think that was as good a reason as any to not have regulations.
While reading the first part of Andrew Sullivan’s weekly tri-partite column concerning the recent Pennsylvania grand jury report on sexual abuse in six dioceses in the Catholic Church, and how the senior members of the hierarchy were either directly responsible, or at least covered for those who were, it suddenly occurred to me:
The unrepentant sinners have captured the Catholic Church.
Oh, maybe not the Pope himself, at least not this one. But unrepentant, yes:
One afternoon, the priest invited George, who was around 14 at the time, to a rectory 25 minutes south of Pittsburgh, where he met several other priests: “During a conversation about religious statues, the priests told George to get onto a bed and remove his shirt, and strike a pose like Jesus on the cross. Then they instructed him to strip off his pants and underwear,” writes the Philadelphia Inquirer. “In the unnerving moments that followed, George claimed that [the priests] began taking photos of him on a Polaroid camera. All of the priests giggled — and then added the photos of George to a collection of photos of other teen boys.” This was a grooming gang.
Yeow!
The Church is the regulator, the agency that lays down the rules, such as no rape or murder or theft or venerating other Gods. The regulated entities? Anyone else who has sinned. And, yet, here we see conscience-less sinners in the dress of priests, taking advantage of a child.
So, what of it? It’s a fair question. I’m not sure that anyone’s formally studied methods for rebuffing attempts to capture regulatory agencies, and if those attempts would be any different than understand that regulation is in place to protect the public from the negative side effects of those entities in their operations of existence, if you take my meaning.
And would those methods have general applicability, or not? Beats the hell out of me.
But I thought I’d mention it. It’s better than talking about the ultimate capture that took place a couple of years ago.
