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Privacy becomes worth what the market will bear. If that's unaffordable, that's just because it's valuable. There's all sorts of other premiums on the exercise
by geofft 7y ago
Privacy becomes worth what the market will bear. If that's unaffordable, that's just because it's valuable.
There's all sorts of other premiums on the exercise of your rights in a private context. It's very hard to get a job in information sectors that lets you retain copyright of your creative work, or in general a job that lets you exercise your freedom of speech without potentially risking your job. If you have physical handicaps, it's more expensive to get a house and a car that are accessible (because there are fewer opinions on the market), you can't necessarily use public transit, and your choice of jobs is also quite limited. Medication and treatment for chronic conditions, whether physical or mental, often exceeds what your insurance will pay. Having a child is quite expensive. If someone has wronged you, depending on the issue, getting a lawyer may be very pricy.
If we think that the market should not set a price for certain desirable basic things, it seems like the fault is on society for allowing and encouraging the market to do so in general, not on the market participants for taking rational advantage of it in particular cases. Personally, I'm of the opinion that everyone should get privacy for free, but I'm also of the opinion that everyone should get health care for free.
- blub 7y agoIn societies which enforce human rights, privacy is upheld through laws, not left to the market. Leaving it to the market leads to horror scenarios like the one we have to live through right now: the USA's banana republic privacy laws are hurting all of us.
- PhasmaFelis 7y ago> If we think that the market should not set a price for certain desirable basic things, it seems like the fault is on society for allowing and encouraging the market to do so in general, not on the market participants for taking rational advantage of it in particular cases. It can be both.
- peeters 7y ago> it seems like the fault is on society for allowing and encouraging the market to do so in general I agree, but there's no underlying constant that humans act rationally or in their own best interest. I don't think the market can protect rights, period. And putting a price on them marginalizes the poor even more.
- jniedrauer 7y ago> Privacy becomes worth what the market will bear. If that's unaffordable, that's just because it's valuable. You could substitute workday length or child labor or any other undesirable attribute of a society into that sentence. There are some things better not left up to "the market".