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> The idea that the government has a right to deem a certain class of investors as "unsophisticated", and thus better off deprived of the right to decide for th

> The idea that the government has a right to deem a certain class of investors as "unsophisticated", and thus better off deprived of the right to decide for themselves what to invest in, and prohibit an entire class of interactions, on the basis that too many instances of that class are fraudulent, upends basic principles of liberal society. Counterpoint: The government declares which investors are savvy or not ("accreditation" based on the rules) only partly because they believe certain people are unqualified to make certain investment decisions based on knowledge. The other major factor is whether an investor is more likely to lose amounts material to their survival. Two items to consider: 1. A person making enough spare income to take such risks is someone who likely won't suffer nearly as much if the risk goes south. Someone making 200,000/y (ok, excluding SF/NY since apparently legislators hardcoded a value like idiots) or who has 1mil assets after the primary home will probably feel pretty bad if a 25,000 investment goes to zero, but they probably won't be going on public assistance. 2. That said, regarding qualification to actually make the decision, a person who has the net worth or the income flow to qualify for accreditation may also be in a better position to invest in concepts being developed by people with past track records or increased odds of success. This may be a general result of being connected to such people (what you might call "the old boys' club," but this can broadly apply to any network of people) or may simply stem from being better positioned to evaluate/diligence the concept e.g. because they're applying their specialized knowledge to evaluate a new idea which they feel has value. --- Idealism is one thing, but if you're more likely to be preyed upon because you don't have the knowledge or connections to make more informed investment decisions and are more willing to increase the tax burden on your fellow person as a result of investment decisions gone sour, that's where the government steps in to protect the general population. As a reminder, this is one of the few responsibilities the government actually has in any society, even the most libertarian. Anyway, this isn't really a debate. If you disagree, you're empowered to do what you wish; I've made my counterpoint above and don't intend to go further.

dnautics 7y ago
> If you're more likely to be preyed upon because you don't have the knowledge or connections to make more informed investment decisions and are more willing to increase the tax burden on your fellow person as a result of investment decisions gone sour, that's where the government steps in to protect the general population. As a reminder, this is one of the few responsibilities the government actually has in any society, even the most libertarian. I don't know where you get your ideas of what libertarians are or aren't but, the general basis of libertarianism is that government gives your recourse for physical harm, defrauding via lies of commission (on principle and independent of the individual's ability to protect themselves), and typically property rights (though libertarians often disagree why). Generally the truth is considered to be an absolute defense against an accusation of fraud, and the justification of fraud is not a function of government having to 'bail people out', and in general, libertarianism does not consider it the role of government to "protect the general population". Typically, libertarians believe this under the premise that so often governments have done (and continue to do) shady things under the "guise of protecting the general population".
CryptoPunk 7y ago
>>The government declares which investors are savvy or not ("accreditation" based on the rules) only partly because they believe certain people are unqualified to make certain investment decisions based on knowledge. You're just rewording what I said. What you're promoting is based on a principle that is roundly rejected when applied in every other sphere of life. >>As a reminder, this is one of the few responsibilities the government actually has in any society, even the most libertarian. Protecting people from their own bad judgement is not a responsibility that the government has in a free (libertarian) society. That's why we let people read whatever literature they want, no matter how toxic the ideas it promotes, and to eat as much as they want, exercise as little as they want, engage in as much unprotected sex as they want, and drink and smoke as much they want. When it comes to crime, the government does have a role in protecting people, but the way it traditionally protects them is by intervening when someone reports a crime in progress, or punishing individuals after they've committed a crime, to create a deterrent effect, not by prohibiting people from venturing into dangerous areas of the city, or prohibiting certain types of relationships that are more likely to lead to criminal incidents. Preemptive restrictions applied to innocent people is not how crime is addressed in a free society.

dnautics 7y ago

> If you're more likely to be preyed upon because you don't have the knowledge or connections to make more informed investment decisions and are more willing to increase the tax burden on your fellow person as a result of investment decisions gone sour, that's where the government steps in to protect the general population. As a reminder, this is one of the few responsibilities the government actually has in any society, even the most libertarian. I don't know where you get your ideas of what libertarians are or aren't but, the general basis of libertarianism is that government gives your recourse for physical harm, defrauding via lies of commission (on principle and independent of the individual's ability to protect themselves), and typically property rights (though libertarians often disagree why). Generally the truth is considered to be an absolute defense against an accusation of fraud, and the justification of fraud is not a function of government having to 'bail people out', and in general, libertarianism does not consider it the role of government to "protect the general population". Typically, libertarians believe this under the premise that so often governments have done (and continue to do) shady things under the "guise of protecting the general population".

CryptoPunk 7y ago

>>The government declares which investors are savvy or not ("accreditation" based on the rules) only partly because they believe certain people are unqualified to make certain investment decisions based on knowledge. You're just rewording what I said. What you're promoting is based on a principle that is roundly rejected when applied in every other sphere of life. >>As a reminder, this is one of the few responsibilities the government actually has in any society, even the most libertarian. Protecting people from their own bad judgement is not a responsibility that the government has in a free (libertarian) society. That's why we let people read whatever literature they want, no matter how toxic the ideas it promotes, and to eat as much as they want, exercise as little as they want, engage in as much unprotected sex as they want, and drink and smoke as much they want. When it comes to crime, the government does have a role in protecting people, but the way it traditionally protects them is by intervening when someone reports a crime in progress, or punishing individuals after they've committed a crime, to create a deterrent effect, not by prohibiting people from venturing into dangerous areas of the city, or prohibiting certain types of relationships that are more likely to lead to criminal incidents. Preemptive restrictions applied to innocent people is not how crime is addressed in a free society.