[extropy-chat] The Hidden Luddite was Re: peak oil debate

Robert Lindauer robgobblin at aol.com
Thu Sep 8 20:11:20 UTC 2005


What about the freedom to use other forms of monetary exchange?

What about taxation?

I believe once you have control of a form of exchange and enable 
taxation, the rest of ills of statist society follow.

You need a (self-serving) administration to enforce the taxation laws.
You need a (self-serving) defense department to protect the economic 
interests of the country as a whole.
You need a (self-serving) polity to govern the taxation and military groups.

Remembering that (self-serving) individuals will, at a rate of at least 
50%, abuse their positions of power to gain more of it, you're 
guaranteed to have more and more regulation and control concentrated at 
those positions which are the focus of the alienation of the power of 
the people to govern.

Then you need an opposition party to watch the power-party.
Then you need separate branches of government to watch each other.
Then you need oversight and independant auditing (which the US doesn't 
have, but probably should given the rest of the stuff we already have).

Pretty soon, you end up with laws regulating the presence of Elephants 
in bars enforced by the same county-sheriffs that steal cocaine from the 
evidence locker.

In short, you need a government and for big countries like the US, you 
need a BIG Government.

Robbie Lindauer


Samantha Atkins wrote:

> Read more carefully.  Remember that I am a minarchist.  I believe  
> there are some tasks best performed by government but that the set of  
> such tasks is small.  I am against government regulation of  
> business.  I am not against a government whose job it is to protect  
> the rights of the people and formulate laws protecting the people  
> from various forms of aggression on their rights.  I am not against a  
> government that runs enforcement and judiciary of those laws.  I am  
> against a government that attempts to regulate heavily most aspects  
> of our lives and interactions.  There is a world of difference.  It  
> is not a legitimate task of government to regulate business.  It is a  
> legitimate task of government to formulate and enforce laws against  
> business fraud and harm to the people.   See the difference?
>
> - s
>
> On Sep 8, 2005, at 1:08 PM, david wrote:
>
>> Samantha Atkins wrote:
>>
>>
>>> There are actually non-government regulation ways of dealing with   
>>> fraudulent or harmful businesses.  A system of laws against fraud  
>>> and  various forms of aggression on the rights and well-being of  
>>> others  would seem sufficient.
>>>
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>
>> A non-government system of laws against fraud, harmful practices  and 
>> agression ?
>> Who writes them?
>> Who enforces them?
>>
>>
>> -David.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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