[ExI] Was medical marijuana. On Insurance

[Dan]

I disagree with this caricature of the free society. One can live in society, 
cooperate with others, mutually benefit others, and not use coercion. This does 
for large projects. (How is that only those who happen to use force somehow can 
carry these out? How on Earth do people like you and me do things like save up 
for holiday or a new laptop? What do we do? Call for the cops to crack some 
heads so we'll have enough mullah to pay for this?)

And the idea that taxation is necessarily is akin to the idea that some people 
must serve others -- i.e., slavery -- otherwise not all the needed work or big 
projects will get done.

Regards,

Dan


----- Original Message ----
From: BillK <pharos at gmail.com>
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Wed, July 21, 2010 2:42:59 PM
Subject: Re: [ExI] Was medical marijuana. On Insurance

On 7/21/10, Dan  wrote:
<snip>
> And the issue of force comes in as always. If someone is going to get
> something that she or he wouldn't get via voluntary exchange, this means
> it's going to have to be taken or paid for by someone else. Why should this
> be allowed or advocated? Why is it seen as ethical to use force?
>
>

Because you live in a human society. The usual solution to the
free-loader problem is to say that everyone who can afford it pays
their share. (It's called taxation).

Paying for just what you want at the time you want it is totally
impracticable for anything beyond trivial expenses.  Your society
(nation) needs major projects funded, some of which you personally
might never use. Others you might not need for another twenty years,
but you will want them built and ready and waiting for you.

On your own desert island, growing your own food, you can do exactly
as you please. But even there you will be paying for things that you
might never need, because they would be nice to have around, just in
case. You might not have time to build them when the need arises.

BillK
_______________________________________________
extropy-chat mailing list
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat