***It is all about money. The government has invented ways to milk us for cash in every way to fund their never ending appetite.***
Exactly.
We are all required to have drivers’ licenses - money to the State - but that does not prevent licensed maniacs from killing us on the highways.
Licenses do not weed out bad lawyers, physicians, dentists, builders, hairdressers, etc., They are only exposed after the damage has occurred.
Licensing is more or less arbitrary, with the various professions deciding what is kosher and what is not.
As to this:
“Licensing of lawyers and doctors is not overly burdensome on those professionals, and greatly increases the chances of their clients receiving competent service. It saves lives and keeps innocent people from going to prison or losing their property.”
Burdensome on the professional is not the issue, but protection of the profession from outsiders, which is well worth the few hundred dollars per year many pay to be in the guild. This is protection from competition, and also scrutiny, as the guilds are essentially self policing - Especially the lawyers guilds, who not only define their rules, but write the laws governing how others may or may not have recourse when they fail.
There are particular problems with that field which may not be completely surmountable no matter what solution is attempted. E.G. the law seems more inclined to think that suing a lawyer for malpractice is a party’s best recourse when poorly represented, rather than upset a system dependent upon giving deference to decisions after they are made, whether made well or not.
There could be problems with appeals made on the basis of inadequate counsel if the law practitioner were not licensed, but these could be taken care of, perhaps more easily than when counsel is licensed. Certainly the malpractice insurance market could have some impact.
Additionally, if a lawyer has a problem with drugs, for instance, that is privileged information as far as the public is concerned. Discipline is only quasi-public, with much of most complaints in my current state being confidential. Only the truly egregious and un-hidable cases become known, and people who try to expose a lawyer’s track record can be disciplined by the state supreme court themselves.
Having had three such critters in a row fail something as basic as a response to a counterpetition (which was granted due to lack of answer), all of whom were licensed, and all of whom were given material to prepare said response, has jaded me more than a little.
Some professions or organizations are more responsible than others, but determining which is a tough nut to crack.
Now, I would not see a doctor who was not minimally certified to have some expertise in the field for which I need him, but I would also use other opinions and my own judgment in the end.
The thing to remember is that these are minimum qualifications, and that your lawyer and Realtor or other professional may have self interests contrary to your best interests (in some fields this is more likely than others, or the impact higher), any claim to professional responsibility notwithstanding.