Heading for twenties, living with wild wild Right

From recent evidence that Boeing sacrificed safety for profit with Federal Aviation Administration complicity (essentially letting Boeing self-regulate and the last country to ground 737s), we again realize we vitally need strong regulations and independent regulators. Absence of oversight in our profit-is-God culture encourages cost-cutting that compromises safety.

In his 2003 book, “The Future of Freedom,” noted analyst Fareed Zakaria describes the vanishing social responsibility over time of wealthy interests such as corporations. Accompanying this has been a huge increase in wealth inequal...