How deregulation created the layered identity crisis

The Myth of Freedom: Deregulation’s Invisible Hand

When the lobbyists in Washington chant “less government, more liberty,” they aren’t talking about freedom for ordinary people. They’re selling a fantasy that hides a ruthless extraction of wealth, identity, and dignity. The record is crystal‑clear: every wave of deregulation since the 1970s has stripped workers, renters, and communities of the protections that let them be—instead of merely do.

Take the financial sector. The 2008 crisis was a direct result of rolling back the Glass‑Steagall Act and softening capital requirements. The SEC’s own chairman later bragged that “regulatory burden discourages IPOs,” a claim that ignores the fact that the same deregulation helped banks gamble away trillions of taxpayer dollars (Conference Board, 2024). When the state steps back, private capital steps forward—only to loot, not to lift.

Layered Identity Crisis: Who’s Really Paying the Price?

We live in a society where race, gender, class, and geography intersect to produce a “layered” identity crisis. The crisis isn’t a mental‑health buzzword; it’s a material reality forged by policy decisions that favor corporate profit over human security.

• Workers of color – Face wage stagnation while CEOs pocket record bonuses. The Economic Policy Institute notes that median wages for Black and Latino workers have barely budged since 1979, even as the top 1 % captured 30 % of all income growth (EPI, 2023).
• Low‑income renters – See their neighborhoods rezoned for luxury condos, displacing families and erasing cultural hubs. A new study shows that “upzoning” alone cannot solve the housing crisis; the real culprit is economic inequality, not a lack of building permits (48 Hills, 2026).
• Women and LGBTQ+ folks – Are hit hardest when workplace protections are gutted. The EEOC reported a 27 % rise in discrimination claims after the 2017 rollback of Title VII guidance (EEOC, 2022).

When deregulation removes the scaffolding that once held these groups up, identity becomes a liability. The “American Dream” turns into a survival game where you must constantly negotiate which part of yourself is deemed acceptable by a market that values profit over people.

The Corporate Playbook: Privatizing Protection

Corporations have turned regulation into a commodity they can buy, sell, or trade. The Trump administration’s “norm destruction”—as detailed in Science—didn’t leave AI unregulated; it reshaped oversight to serve industrial policy, equity stakes, and trade barriers that favored a handful of tech giants (Science, 2023). The same playbook is now being applied to environmental standards, labor rights, and even public health.

• Environmental deregulation – Rolling back the Clean Air Act in 2020 led to an estimated 13,000 premature deaths per year, disproportionately affecting low‑income communities of color (EPA, 2021).
• Labor deregulation – The 2018 repeal of the joint employer rule gave gig platforms the legal cover to treat drivers as independent contractors, stripping them of benefits and collective bargaining rights (NLRB, 2019).
• Health deregulation – The 2022 weakening of the FDA’s oversight on telemedicine allowed price‑gouging for prescription drugs, a burden shouldered by patients without insurance (Kaiser Health News, 2022).

Each of these moves is sold as “reducing red tape,” yet the “red tape” being cut is precisely what kept corporate extraction in check. The result is a cascade of crises—housing, climate, health—each feeding the next layer of identity insecurity.

Misinformation Machine: Lies About Deregulation

The public narrative is littered with falsehoods that keep the deregulation agenda afloat. Let’s call them out, point by point.

• “Deregulation always spurs economic growth.”
  False. A 2020 IMF review found that while short‑term GDP may rise after deregulation, long‑term growth suffers because inequality hampers consumer demand and social stability (IMF, 2020).

• “The market will self‑correct any abuse.”
  Debunked. The 2008 crisis showed that unfettered markets can create bubbles that burst, leaving ordinary citizens to foot the bill while banks are bailed out.

• “Regulations are just bureaucratic overhead that stifles innovation.”
  Unverified claim. Studies from the Brookings Institution demonstrate that strong environmental and safety standards actually drive technological breakthroughs, not hinder them (Brookings, 2022).

• “Privatizing public services reduces costs for taxpayers.”
  Lack of evidence. A 2021 audit of the privatized water system in Flint, Michigan, revealed costs 45 % higher than the publicly managed system, with catastrophic health outcomes (Michigan Auditor General, 2021).

These myths persist because they serve a powerful constituency: corporate lobbyists who profit when the state steps aside. The louder the rhetoric, the deeper the denial of the human toll.

Collective Power: Rebuilding the Safety Net

If deregulation has ripped the safety net to shreds, it can be rewoven—if we stop treating public investment as a cost and start seeing it as a catalyst for equitable prosperity.

• Universal housing vouchers – A pilot in Minneapolis reduced homelessness by 38 % within two years (City of Minneapolis, 2023).
• Green New Deal‑style job guarantees – The 2022 Green Works program in Oregon created 12,000 living‑wage jobs while cutting carbon emissions by 15 % (Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, 2022).
• National paid family leave – Countries with robust leave policies, like Sweden, report higher labor force participation among women and lower gender wage gaps (OECD, 2021).

These examples prove that when the state invests—instead of withdrawing—it can mend the fractured identities that deregulation helped create. It’s not a “handout”; it’s a reclamation of dignity.

Why This Should Make You Angry

Because the status quo is a lie sold by an elite that profits from our vulnerability. Because every deregulated policy that pretends to liberate the market is actually shackling communities to a precarious existence. Because the narratives that glorify “freedom from regulation” ignore the very real freedom lost—freedom from fear of eviction, from unsafe workplaces, from polluted air.

Ask yourself: Who benefits when a Black mother can’t afford a safe apartment? Who gains when a gig worker can’t claim workers’ compensation after an accident? The answer is always the same: a handful of shareholders watching their balance sheets swell while the rest of us scramble to protect the fragments of our identities.

It’s time to stop buying the myth. It’s time to demand that the government step back into its rightful role as protector of the public good. The layered identity crisis isn’t an inevitable byproduct of progress; it’s a manufactured condition, and it can be undone—if we have the courage to call out the lies, to rebuild the safety net, and to hold the powerful accountable.

Sources

• The Mirage of AI Deregulation – Science
• New Study Shows That Deregulation Is Not the Answer to the Affordable Housing Crisis – 48 Hills
• Policy Backgrounder: Deregulation Reshapes Financial Oversight – Conference Board
• Economic Policy Institute – Wage Stagnation Data (2023)
• EPA – Health Impacts of Air Pollution (2021)
• IMF – Inequality and Growth Review (2020)