[Arlo] > the acceptance of the market of human slaves does not make it moral.
[craig] Yes, but you're avoiding the all-important 2nd half of the equation. Generally, voluntariness is not SUFFICIENT for an economic transaction to be moral, but it is NECESSARY. [Krimel] Slavery involved economic transactions that were not voluntary but were considered moral and sanctioned by the constitution. Imminent domain transactions are sometimes involuntary but they are legal and moral. Taxation is only voluntary to the extent that I have explained to Platt that it is. And what do you mean by voluntary? I have to buy food. I have to buy gasoline. The cable company, the telephone company, the electric company and the water and sewer systems are all monopolies where I live. I can "choose" to do without but that is not much range of option. Is any degree of "voluntary" sufficient to qualify a transaction as "moral"? [Krimel] > In fact in the hierarchy of social values free markets were pretty low on the totem pole until Raygun... > the "free market" is a myth and always has been a myth. [craig] In fact, no. The free market has been highly valued since at least 1776. Economic systems can be seen along a spectrum from free market economies to command economies (fascism, socialism, communism). To say there are no free markets is like saying there is no free speech because I may not yell in your ear as loud as I can. [Krimel] The golden fleece and the Holy Grail have been valued for thousands of years that does not make them any less mythical. Fantasies abound in economics. Is the "free market" somehow less fantastic than the "worker's paradise" or the efficient but benign state? Almost every economy in the world today and certainly every successful one is mixed. This talk of purity and morality is just smokescreen. [craig] Your lack of historical knowledge does not make something a myth. [Krimel] I am eager for you to correct the lack. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
