It's all theoretical. Do you see it actually working out this way? When and where?
> regulators just, you know, look at the design of the chairs to evaluate them for certification. But customers could do the same thing for themselves, at less cost (what, you think those government regulators work for free?). So the regulations are actually adding zero value. But they're certainly not adding zero cost.
I have little idea how to evaluate the safety of an electric wheelchair, and don't have the time to acquire the expertise to learn how to do that with everything I buy. But we all can chip in and pay someone, who has the expertise, to do it once rather than than millions of people doing it redundantly.
Then you can choose to pay that premium for a wheelchair, or any other good or service, evaluated by a third party of your choosing. But others, with potentially different requirements, should be able to choose different third parties who evaluate by different criteria. At the very least, you should be able to disregard a third party's evaluation of safety for a wheelchair. The idea that there should be one master evaluation and all other evaluations are redundant holds no water.
> What if the wheelchair malfunctions and injures someone else? What if my car malfunctions and causes an accident?
Yes, what if it does? Unfortunately getting FDA approval isn't going to do anything to prevent that. I fully acknowledge that regulatory bodies are good for dealing with externalities, but consumer protections do not fall under that category.
> Also, I don't want to live in world of frauds and scams and other crimes, trying to navigate it, for obvious reasons
Then, as I said, just stick with the FDA approved products. Government standards would still exist, you'd just have the option to purchase things that didn't meet those standards. The freedom to color outside the lines includes the freedom to color within them. You're not harmed by other people choosing differently.
> It's also an economic disaster.
Citation needed. Typically heavily regulated economies fare worse than those where competition is permitted.
> You're doing an awful lot of work to empower already powerful people by removing democratic power over our society.
We clearly have very different ideas about who holds power in our society.
> regulators just, you know, look at the design of the chairs to evaluate them for certification. But customers could do the same thing for themselves, at less cost (what, you think those government regulators work for free?). So the regulations are actually adding zero value. But they're certainly not adding zero cost.
I have little idea how to evaluate the safety of an electric wheelchair, and don't have the time to acquire the expertise to learn how to do that with everything I buy. But we all can chip in and pay someone, who has the expertise, to do it once rather than than millions of people doing it redundantly.