A Case Against Coercion

This highly compelling article gives rational and logical arguments that explain why governments fail so miserably at their stated intentions and how a free market could solve problems such as crime and security.

The article is at times unnecessarily academic in tone, but the arguments are so strong and compelling as to be worth the moderate extra effort. At the end of the article, the author proposes a solution to the problem of government that I feel is over-optimistic, but kudos to him for at least offering a solution.

Would Corporations Exist in a Coercion-Free Society?

A corporation in the U.S. is a government backed, or to be more precise, a coercion-backed entity designed to protect the people who are running it from liability. Without a group of people with the sanctioned right to initiate the use of force (government), there would be private conflict resolution organizations and insurance companies that would handle issues. It would be up to them and the people who contract with the companies as to how much accountability there would be. In other words it would be up to the market. And the great thing is, with your wallet, you would have a say in it!

For example, if company A is negotiating a contract with company B, the issue of conflict resolution and/or contract insurance would come up. Let's say company B is structured in the style of a coercion-supported corporation designed to shield the people who run it from being responsible for its actions. If I were in the shoes of company A's resolution/insurance companies, I would probably charge a lot more to get involved in a contract that involves a company whose principles wanted to protect themselves from accountability.

So company A has an immediate financial incentive to seek market partners who are willing to accept accountability and shun ones who aren't. Company B has put itself in a market disadvantage. The market would immediately recognize this and provide organizations that have structures that enforce personal accountability of its principles. Not to mention company B would most likely be paying more to its conflict/insurance companies.

These are huge market disadvantages to liability shielding tactics.

Would you buy stock in company B? Would you purchase its products or services if you had a choice of a more responsible company?

I think it's a good exercise to ponder on how a free market can resolve virtually any issue and supply any need. With a little practice you can figure it out on your own. It's all about risks and incentives with built-in mandatory win-win outcomes.

A truly free market is a phenomenally beautiful thing. It really is a crying shame that smiley faced politicians scramble to continue crapping all over it.

What's happened to our quality of life?

• 25% of Americans are lonely.

• We don't spend time with our neighbors like we used to.

• We spend a lot of time sitting in front of a flickering light-emitting box.

• Many spend a lot of time viewing information delivered from a source containing a near-infinite amount of content.

• How many times have you seen a group of people in a social setting with at least one person having a solitary conversation with a small plastic box?

What has happened to our quality of life? What can we do to improve it?


Here's what I've done so far:

• Sold my fixer-upper house and rented (More time to pursue more fulfilling activities)
  

• Got rid of my television.

• Made an effort to exercise in a more social setting (volleyball)

• Going to group meetings in areas I have an interest in

• Unfortunately, much of the TV addiction migrated to the internet. Here's an internet timer/limiter that may help. I'm going to give it a try. If it doesn't meet my needs and no-one else offers what I want, I'll make it myself and sell it.

How Government Causes the Religion Wars

There has been an ongoing fight in the U.S. between fundamentalist religious groups and secularists about what should or shouldn't be taught in public schools concerning evolution and creationism.

There's a real heat to this debate.

Why is that?

The answer is government. It is government that forces people in society to fund public schools and compels children to attend. Were it not for this group of people sanctioned with the right to the initiation of force, there would be little reason for a fight on this subject. Parents who would want creationism taught to their kids would simply choose schools that offer it. Parents who wish to avoid having fantasies rendered as truth would take them to a school that teaches science.

This fight is a battle to have the government point guns at their opponents in order to force them to do things their way.

Take any controversial subject where government is involved. Remove the guns (government) and see if there's anything left to fight about.

This is the state of our society. Think about it for a while. Is this the best way to organize a society -- to give a group within it the right to point guns at others? Sure, the Constitution is the "rule book" that was given to them. Just look how effective that's been.

They gave them guns, remember?

I'm OK With the Mysteries of Life

I don't have any problem not knowing how life began.

I don't have any problem not knowing what happens after I die.

I think it is pretty safe to assume that I cease to exist in any conscious way.

I wonder if the reason that some people adopt a fantasy about these types of things is to manage some kind of anxiety that they provoke.

When I see a photograph of galaxy with its "clouds" of stars and its awesome beauty, I experience a feeling of awe and wonder. I wonder how the heck it got there, how it formed, and what else might be out there that we haven't detected yet.

I love the mysteries of how ants communicate, or what elephants might think or feel, or why are there mosquitoes??

...But I have no inspiration to make something up -- to adopt a story about some being who "must have" designed the universe. That's the only argument that's at the basis of any creationist's viewpoint. "Well, it simply must have been designed. It's too complex to have been formed by chance..."

There are things we do know (earth is round, gravity makes things fall to the ground...) and there are things that we don't know. That's it. Either we know it or we don't. If someone wants to make up a story about the things they don't know, I have no problem with that.

I feel no need.