On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 4:13 AM, Telmo Menezes <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 8:36 PM, meekerdb <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On 1/13/2015 7:24 AM, Telmo Menezes wrote: >> >> You're using the term "free" as if it were some mystical property like >> "kosher" or "halal". A free market is simply free from regulation from a >> central authority, that's all. The silk road is free from regulation. >> Anyone can participate, including mafias. If mafias couldn't participate, >> it wouldn't be a free market. >> >> >> The trouble with the idea of a "free market", meaning free of government >> regulation is that a market is a place where things are traded. To trade >> something you need to own it. But without government or its equivalent you >> can't *own *anymore than you can carry at a dead run while firing your >> AK-47. The first function of government is to provide safety for its >> citizens (mostly from each other). The second is to define and defend >> property rights. And governments have done it differently. In England, at >> one time, all land belonged to the crown. Even today a lot of real estate >> in England is not owned by its occupants, it's on a 100y lease from the >> crown. American indians didn't have any concept of personal ownership of >> land. Ownership of "intellectual property" is defined by the government >> and they keep changing it - extending copyright duration at the behest of >> Disney Corp. Stocks and bonds would be just paper without a government to >> enforce ownership. >> > > In the end, if the majority of people decided to misbehave, the government > would be powerless. The reason the majority people do not misbehave is > "software" that was installed in their minds by civilisation. Surely you > agree that modern governments would not work in ancient cultures. We > actually see this first hand, for example with the Arab spring revolutions, > where democracy quickly devolves back to civil war or theocracy. > On this topic, if anyone hasn't seen it, I would recommend seeing the documentary "The Square": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2486682/ It gives far more insight into the Egyptian revolution than I ever got through traditional media channels. Jason > The same applies to free markets. They could create a situation where > misbehaving just isn't in your personal self-interest. But this would only > work with a majority of people trusting rationality and educated in a > fashion that would afford them the self-confidence and independence to > prosper in such a world. Democracy started being viable the day a majority > of people started believing in it. There is a very subtle but also very > powerful element to social systems that emerges from what's inside people's > minds. > > Telmo. > > >> >> Brent >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Everything List" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
