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Government really is where community goes to die huh? The only reason this asshole even has the chance of getting what he wants is that once he buys his approva

by Spivak 3y ago

Government really is where community goes to die huh? The only reason this asshole even has the chance of getting what he wants is that once he buys his approval he will have state backing to protect it. Without violence-as-a-service he's just one guy pitted against a town that hates him that would seemingly happily send him packing. The fact that the people of the town have any means whatsoever to stop him is a feat unto itself. It truly is amazing how government enables this kind of assholery at an institutional level under the guise of property rights. I can't even imagine trying to join a community with my first move being to piss them all off by building an eyesore right in front of the nature conservation the town just paid for out of their own pockets.

malermeister 3y ago
Without government, this guy would buy an army of goons to violently force his will on us. The monopoly on force protects us from billionaires taking over even more than they already have.
- Spivak 3y ago
  So what do ya do when they manage to buy the government instead? I don't know if there's any good answers here, if there was an obvious solution we would have implemented it by now. I'm not saying that the alternative isn't worse but the current state of things is nonetheless bad. The fact that this guy very nearly got legislation quietly passed against the will of the larger community means something is terribly broken.
  - malermeister 3y ago
    I agree. As I said in another comment I think the solution is to prevent them from getting rich enough to buy government in the first place. Wealth tax the shit out of everything over a few mil.
  - samhw 3y ago
    The law locks up the man or woman, Who steals the goose from off the common, But leaves the greater villain loose, Who steals the common from off the goose The law demands that we atone, When we take things we do not own, But leaves the lords and ladies fine, Who take things that are yours and mine The poor and wretched don't escape, If they conspire the law to break, This must be so but they endure, Those who conspire to make the law The law locks up the man or woman, Who steals the goose from off the common, And geese will still a common lack, Till they go and steal it back - 17th century English folk poem, post Enclosure Acts

by Spivak 3y ago

malermeister 3y ago

Without government, this guy would buy an army of goons to violently force his will on us. The monopoly on force protects us from billionaires taking over even more than they already have.

Spivak 3y ago
So what do ya do when they manage to buy the government instead? I don't know if there's any good answers here, if there was an obvious solution we would have implemented it by now. I'm not saying that the alternative isn't worse but the current state of things is nonetheless bad. The fact that this guy very nearly got legislation quietly passed against the will of the larger community means something is terribly broken.
- malermeister 3y ago
  I agree. As I said in another comment I think the solution is to prevent them from getting rich enough to buy government in the first place. Wealth tax the shit out of everything over a few mil.
- samhw 3y ago
  The law locks up the man or woman, Who steals the goose from off the common, But leaves the greater villain loose, Who steals the common from off the goose The law demands that we atone, When we take things we do not own, But leaves the lords and ladies fine, Who take things that are yours and mine The poor and wretched don't escape, If they conspire the law to break, This must be so but they endure, Those who conspire to make the law The law locks up the man or woman, Who steals the goose from off the common, And geese will still a common lack, Till they go and steal it back - 17th century English folk poem, post Enclosure Acts