4 ms·

Does Cigna have gun-welding police force?

roughly 4y ago
It turns out there's different types of coercion that don't involve guns and yet still have the effect of forcing someone to act in ways they otherwise would prefer not to. This is what I'm talking about when I say the philosophy lacks a comprehensive theory of power.
- jostylr 4y ago
  Most, if not all, of the coercion of a single company in this economy is coming from the government. For the trains, remember that there was going to be a worker's strike. If that was a real threat, the rail companies, left on their own, would probably have compromised. But they knew the government would stop it which is what the government did. They used the guns of government. Without that backing, the workers had power. As for Cigna, that is all balled up in the health system which is quite the mess in this country. Certainly, we have horrible private actors doing absurd things. But it is not because it is a free market. The health industry is heavily regulated and heavily funded by the government. I think 60% of health care is covered by the government funds. We have protectionist policies for drug companies. We have restrictive licensing on medical personnel whose main purpose is to restrict supply to keep competition down. There are even places where the addition of a single ambulance has to be approved by everyone else who owns ambulances in the area. I think it would be fantastic if people could get a couple of weeks training to go around and be little helpers for in home care of a low-level nature. Instead, it takes years of going through expensive coursework, usually of limited value, designed to keep the poor from helping one another. That is government imposing that, admittedly at the behest of the well-heeled. As for other kinds of power, there are all sorts of powers people have over each other. I act differently and constrained in various groups of people I am around. Larger or more meaningful groups have more power. But the main lever of power that I have is the ability to walk away. Consumers do not have go with that company. Workers do not have to work with that company. Investors do not need to invest in that company. But we do have to obey the laws and pay taxes to the government. The power of free association is very powerful.
morpheos137 4y ago
They don't have to have them when they can donate to politicians, lobby and buy advertisements as they see fit. The problem with corporations in American politics and law stems from corporate personhood. We may need to revisit the concept of limited liability. When planes fall out of the sky due to cost savings in product development or automated cars crash into trucks due to beta software marketed to the public as "fully self-driving," or unwise securitized lending threatens the financial sector, responsible executives should be held personally liable, not given golden parachutes or a slap on the wrist.

It turns out there's different types of coercion that don't involve guns and yet still have the effect of forcing someone to act in ways they otherwise would prefer not to. This is what I'm talking about when I say the philosophy lacks a comprehensive theory of power.

jostylr 4y ago
Most, if not all, of the coercion of a single company in this economy is coming from the government. For the trains, remember that there was going to be a worker's strike. If that was a real threat, the rail companies, left on their own, would probably have compromised. But they knew the government would stop it which is what the government did. They used the guns of government. Without that backing, the workers had power. As for Cigna, that is all balled up in the health system which is quite the mess in this country. Certainly, we have horrible private actors doing absurd things. But it is not because it is a free market. The health industry is heavily regulated and heavily funded by the government. I think 60% of health care is covered by the government funds. We have protectionist policies for drug companies. We have restrictive licensing on medical personnel whose main purpose is to restrict supply to keep competition down. There are even places where the addition of a single ambulance has to be approved by everyone else who owns ambulances in the area. I think it would be fantastic if people could get a couple of weeks training to go around and be little helpers for in home care of a low-level nature. Instead, it takes years of going through expensive coursework, usually of limited value, designed to keep the poor from helping one another. That is government imposing that, admittedly at the behest of the well-heeled. As for other kinds of power, there are all sorts of powers people have over each other. I act differently and constrained in various groups of people I am around. Larger or more meaningful groups have more power. But the main lever of power that I have is the ability to walk away. Consumers do not have go with that company. Workers do not have to work with that company. Investors do not need to invest in that company. But we do have to obey the laws and pay taxes to the government. The power of free association is very powerful.

morpheos137 4y ago

They don't have to have them when they can donate to politicians, lobby and buy advertisements as they see fit. The problem with corporations in American politics and law stems from corporate personhood. We may need to revisit the concept of limited liability. When planes fall out of the sky due to cost savings in product development or automated cars crash into trucks due to beta software marketed to the public as "fully self-driving," or unwise securitized lending threatens the financial sector, responsible executives should be held personally liable, not given golden parachutes or a slap on the wrist.