5 ms·

The author belies the libertarian quirk of mind that conflates something being regulated with something being made illegal. Quite different things! This strike

by b1daly 9y ago

The author belies the libertarian quirk of mind that conflates something being regulated with something being made illegal. Quite different things! This strikes me as a cousin to the libertarian intuition that if it is possible to craft an activity that is literally impossible for the government to discover, such an activity simply can't be illegal. (I'm sympathetic to this intuition, but it doesn't take long to see the illogic behind it.)

ndr 9y ago
Where is the illogic behind it? The law can say it is illegal, but it is not enforceable is it really a valid claim?
- arkades 9y ago
  Yes, it is really a valid claim. It's not even "un-enforceable," it's just "difficult to discover." Murdering someone and getting away clean doesn't make murder legal. Largely because, as an extension of the fact that we're discussing the real world and not a fantasy (https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/), everything is eventually discover-able, and if you give the government sufficient incentive, they will discover it.
  - ndr 9y ago
    The way you describe this is that it's impossible to make something undiscoverable, which is quite a big claim and one I don't really agree with.
humanrebar 9y ago
> The author belies the libertarian quirk of mind that conflates something being regulated with something being made illegal. Quite different things! You're understating how blurred the line is. A Texas regulation on abortion clinics was struck down last year for being too close to a ban on abortion. Regulations on tobacco products are introduced and strengthened over time with the goal of eliminating the use of tobacco. Gun control lobbyists commonly push regulations on gun form factors, bullets, magazine bans, and all sorts of other things since a ban on handguns has been consistently ruled unconstitutional.
- b1daly 9y ago
  I disagree. The practice of medicine in general is one of the most highly regulated professions. It does not follow that such regulation is a slippery slope to the practice of medicine being made illegal. The contrary argument is easier to make: when an activity is regulated, by the government, it has been officially sanctioned as a legal activity. There is no logical reason that an activity such as trading bitcoin should be able to be conducted outside of the legal framework of the state the trader does business in.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

by b1daly 9y ago

ndr 9y ago

Where is the illogic behind it? The law can say it is illegal, but it is not enforceable is it really a valid claim?

arkades 9y ago
Yes, it is really a valid claim. It's not even "un-enforceable," it's just "difficult to discover." Murdering someone and getting away clean doesn't make murder legal. Largely because, as an extension of the fact that we're discussing the real world and not a fantasy (https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/), everything is eventually discover-able, and if you give the government sufficient incentive, they will discover it.
- ndr 9y ago
  The way you describe this is that it's impossible to make something undiscoverable, which is quite a big claim and one I don't really agree with.

humanrebar 9y ago

> The author belies the libertarian quirk of mind that conflates something being regulated with something being made illegal. Quite different things! You're understating how blurred the line is. A Texas regulation on abortion clinics was struck down last year for being too close to a ban on abortion. Regulations on tobacco products are introduced and strengthened over time with the goal of eliminating the use of tobacco. Gun control lobbyists commonly push regulations on gun form factors, bullets, magazine bans, and all sorts of other things since a ban on handguns has been consistently ruled unconstitutional.

b1daly 9y ago
I disagree. The practice of medicine in general is one of the most highly regulated professions. It does not follow that such regulation is a slippery slope to the practice of medicine being made illegal. The contrary argument is easier to make: when an activity is regulated, by the government, it has been officially sanctioned as a legal activity. There is no logical reason that an activity such as trading bitcoin should be able to be conducted outside of the legal framework of the state the trader does business in.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]