In Harlan, Ky., in 1931, the goons were armed deputies who beat striking mine workers. In Hamlet, N.C., in 1991, the villain was the owner of a chicken-processing factory where 25 workers died in a fire locked behind doors. In Central Texas' asbestos scandal, and it is a scandal, the victims are apparent, but the villains live in the protective shadows of voluntary compliance. American-Statesman reporter Kevin Carmody powerfully identified the victims last Sunday and Monday. Some workers contract asbestosis or cancer, facing painful death by suffocation as fibers take residence in the soft, pink tissue of their lungs.
Fairness requires care in talking about the villains.
It is dangerous to generalize. The great majority of building owners, architects and contractors follow the law and would protect workers whether or not there were laws requiring it. They own, design and construct buildings. They make laws. They are people who want cheap office rents.