<html>
<body>
Okay, fine, but then you are talking about the kind of situation that I
specifically mentioned:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">
<font face="Courier New, Courier">> Of course, it's possible that the
system making the loans is one that <br>
> you're being forced into (for instance, it may be a government <br>
> monopoly, or one where your private choices are restricted through
<br>
> legislation), but that's a separate issue.</font></blockquote><br>
You didn't specify such a background in your original comment. So, I have
to ask: Would you *still* say that it's coercion to withdraw a loan when
these kinds of problematic conditions do *not* exist? If so, we continue
to disagree. If not, I think we are mostly in agreement.<br><br>
Max<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">
<font face="Courier New, Courier">No, Max, it is not a separate issue.
Perhaps not "forced into" loans, but certainly "scammed
into" loans.<br><br>
Take the recent real estate bubble: real estate prices have been
artificially driven to unrealistic values while at the same time citizens
have been encouraged to spend virtual money without having real money, by
a _joint_ action of governments and private financial institutions. Then
when the bubble has exploded, citizens have not been able to afford their
mortgages anymore, banks have repossessed their homes and sold them at
bargain prices to their own people, who will now restart the loop. It is
a big shakeout that happens periodically in our economies, to rob
citizens of their money and give the money back to their "real
owners": government officers and financial institutions acting in
_complicity_. This is not free market, but organized thievery
masquerading as free market. Give me a healthy free market anytime, but
not this farce.</font></blockquote><br><br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
-------------------------------------<br>
Max More, Ph.D.<br>
Strategic Philosopher<br>
Extropy Institute Founder<br>
<a href="http://www.maxmore.com/" eudora="autourl">www.maxmore.com<br>
</a>max@maxmore.com<br>
-------------------------------------</body>
</html>