Politics is only one way of organizing society. You can also organize society by using private property, and allowing people to trade amongst themselves. This works just peachy as long as private property rights are secure. People can plan, they can freely associate with others, they can refuse to accommodate uncooperative people, and they can get the full benefit of their activities.
In a political system, anything you do benefits everyone, but the full costs fall on you. THAT is why so many people are uninterested in politics. And that is why you have to watch out for political solutions -- because people who take an interest in politics usually do so because they intend to use the political process against other people.
-russ
What a weenie! He didn't even pay for the domain name -- he got it through namezero! Slepped up a little frame with a link to slashdot, and that's it.
-russ
You don't even need all that theory. It's obvious that you have to trust the person you're trading with, because no agreement to vote any one way is enforcible (modulo absentee ballots). So, can you trust a stranger? Doubtful. Game over.
-russ
The Matsushita microswitches I did it with worked fine. Plasticine clay hardens at a very low temperature. What is it, 220 degrees?? I always have to go look it up.
-russ
Sure, that's a great idea. They could ship a half-pound of Sculpey(tm). You could form it to fit your hand, then bake it. The electronics isn't going to be hurt by a trip through the oven at the low temperature that Sculpey requires.
-russ
Not only that, but PHP requires execution of a separate license. We may change the OSD to allow one open source license to require you to execute another open source license. It's silly not to (but we haven't yet made that decision).
-russ
You're funny. You claim that corporations have too much power (they do) because they seek out government regulations (they do), and then you say that a libertarian society would change this. Well yeah!! Of course it would! Corporations would have to compete instead of being handed a business through regulation. A libertarian society would result in less corporate power, not more.
AT&T was handed a monopoly over all new telephone systems by the Communications Act of 1928 (or something like that). You have a nice theory, but it's contradicted by the facts.
-russ
You can use my RBL tester. Send email to nelson-rbl-test@crynwr.com. See http://crynwr.com/spam/ for more information. As I said in another post, "This is the Internet; stop acting so helpless."
-russ
If your ISP defends your mailbox using the RBL, and you don't like it, get your email through a different service. This is the Internet; stop acting so helpless.
-russ
Facts are such difficult things for people with your opinion. Best just to ignore them, eh? The first generation earns the money, the second spends it, and the third gives it away. At least that's what's happened historically. Look at any of the wealthy families from a hundred years ago.
Now, that said, as a practical matter, there are no safe investments. All capital must be managed, or it will slip away. It takes effort and skill to manage capital well. That's work. Sorry if you don't appreciate it as work, but perhaps you haven't tried to do it yourself.
-russ
I'm voting for Harry Browne. I'm not holding my nose to vote for Bush OR Gore. Gore frightens me. The things he says in _Earth in the Balance_ are indistinguishable from the Unabomber Manifesto.
-russ
I see that David says that farmers and businessmen are not affected by the inheritance tax. I'll accept his point regardless of its veracity. My point still holds: the inheritance tax converts capital into consumption. This is a bad thing in the long term.
-russ
One thing, and one thing only makes anybody wealthy: capital. Savings applied to productive uses. Death taxes destroy capital. They force the sons of farmers and businessmen to sell the business in order to pay the taxes on what they have inherited. This destroys capital.
Inheritance taxes make us all poorer, even if we don't pay them ourselves.
-russ
You mean the sheep barn at state fair needs re-roofing, and Bush hasn't spent the money on it yet? Oh, the poor children! Imagine trying to groom your sheep amid falling rain, hail, snow, leaves, or whatever else falls from the sky in Texas in the summer. Bush obviously doesn't care a bit about the children. Okay, that's enough! I'm voting for Harry Browne this fall. He'd make the fairgoers pay for the repairs out of the gate receipts, and thereby remove the decision from the realm of politics.
-russ
A tax cut + no change in spending = increased borrowing by the government OR the government printing up more dollars. Only the latter is inflationary.
-russ
A tax cut doesn't inject more money into the economy. It just changes who spends the money. If anything, a tax cut will reduce inflation; at least private citizens save some of what they earn. Government spends it all.
-russ
What if it was a not-for-profit insurance company? What if it was just a bunch of people who got together and signed a contract to ensure that all will pay if one gets sick.
It's very easy to demonify companies, but companies are just a way for people to get together. The fact that the company makes money doing so doesn't change the fact that customers are pooling their efforts.
If you don't value what the company sells, don't buy it. But neither should you stand in the way of people who want to get together to buy something.
-russ
Slashdot Mirror
Politics is only one way of organizing society. You can also organize society by using private property, and allowing people to trade amongst themselves. This works just peachy as long as private property rights are secure. People can plan, they can freely associate with others, they can refuse to accommodate uncooperative people, and they can get the full benefit of their activities.
In a political system, anything you do benefits everyone, but the full costs fall on you. THAT is why so many people are uninterested in politics. And that is why you have to watch out for political solutions -- because people who take an interest in politics usually do so because they intend to use the political process against other people.
-russ
What a weenie! He didn't even pay for the domain name -- he got it through namezero! Slepped up a little frame with a link to slashdot, and that's it.
-russ
You don't even need all that theory. It's obvious that you have to trust the person you're trading with, because no agreement to vote any one way is enforcible (modulo absentee ballots). So, can you trust a stranger? Doubtful. Game over.
-russ
Started to. Didn't finish it. Found a better keyboard. Kinesis Essential.
-russ
The Matsushita microswitches I did it with worked fine. Plasticine clay hardens at a very low temperature. What is it, 220 degrees?? I always have to go look it up.
-russ
Sure, that's a great idea. They could ship a half-pound of Sculpey(tm). You could form it to fit your hand, then bake it. The electronics isn't going to be hurt by a trip through the oven at the low temperature that Sculpey requires.
-russ
Not only that, but PHP requires execution of a separate license. We may change the OSD to allow one open source license to require you to execute another open source license. It's silly not to (but we haven't yet made that decision).
-russ
You're funny. You claim that corporations have too much power (they do) because they seek out government regulations (they do), and then you say that a libertarian society would change this. Well yeah!! Of course it would! Corporations would have to compete instead of being handed a business through regulation. A libertarian society would result in less corporate power, not more.
AT&T was handed a monopoly over all new telephone systems by the Communications Act of 1928 (or something like that). You have a nice theory, but it's contradicted by the facts. -russ
You can use my RBL tester. Send email to nelson-rbl-test@crynwr.com. See http://crynwr.com/spam/ for more information. As I said in another post, "This is the Internet; stop acting so helpless."
-russ
If your ISP defends your mailbox using the RBL, and you don't like it, get your email through a different service. This is the Internet; stop acting so helpless.
-russ
ORBS is not a part of MAPS. ORBS does network scans. MAPS does not.
-russ
You have to be able to measure the quality of the work. How can you do that without knowing anything about cars or restaurants?
-russ
With no knowledge of economics, how is he to choose someone who has some?
-russ
Facts are such difficult things for people with your opinion. Best just to ignore them, eh? The first generation earns the money, the second spends it, and the third gives it away. At least that's what's happened historically. Look at any of the wealthy families from a hundred years ago.
Now, that said, as a practical matter, there are no safe investments. All capital must be managed, or it will slip away. It takes effort and skill to manage capital well. That's work. Sorry if you don't appreciate it as work, but perhaps you haven't tried to do it yourself.
-russ
The federal government controls so much of the economy, that I don't see how we can elect someone who isn't an economist.
-russ
I'm voting for Harry Browne. I'm not holding my nose to vote for Bush OR Gore. Gore frightens me. The things he says in _Earth in the Balance_ are indistinguishable from the Unabomber Manifesto.
-russ
I see that David says that farmers and businessmen are not affected by the inheritance tax. I'll accept his point regardless of its veracity. My point still holds: the inheritance tax converts capital into consumption. This is a bad thing in the long term.
-russ
One thing, and one thing only makes anybody wealthy: capital. Savings applied to productive uses. Death taxes destroy capital. They force the sons of farmers and businessmen to sell the business in order to pay the taxes on what they have inherited. This destroys capital.
Inheritance taxes make us all poorer, even if we don't pay them ourselves.
-russ
You mean the sheep barn at state fair needs re-roofing, and Bush hasn't spent the money on it yet? Oh, the poor children! Imagine trying to groom your sheep amid falling rain, hail, snow, leaves, or whatever else falls from the sky in Texas in the summer. Bush obviously doesn't care a bit about the children. Okay, that's enough! I'm voting for Harry Browne this fall. He'd make the fairgoers pay for the repairs out of the gate receipts, and thereby remove the decision from the realm of politics.
-russ
Ruby Ridge was August.
-russ
Because they're shown from a different perspective. Or rather, lack of perspective.
-russ
A tax cut + no change in spending = increased borrowing by the government OR the government printing up more dollars. Only the latter is inflationary.
-russ
A tax cut doesn't inject more money into the economy. It just changes who spends the money. If anything, a tax cut will reduce inflation; at least private citizens save some of what they earn. Government spends it all.
-russ
What if it was a not-for-profit insurance company? What if it was just a bunch of people who got together and signed a contract to ensure that all will pay if one gets sick.
It's very easy to demonify companies, but companies are just a way for people to get together. The fact that the company makes money doing so doesn't change the fact that customers are pooling their efforts.
If you don't value what the company sells, don't buy it. But neither should you stand in the way of people who want to get together to buy something.
-russ