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> Once the retail and manufacturing carnage starts to scale, the government carnage will soon follow. How can it not, when only old people pay sales tax, fewer
by zimbatm 13y ago
> Once the retail and manufacturing carnage starts to scale, the government carnage will soon follow. How can it not, when only old people pay sales tax, fewer citizens obtain their incomes from traditional easy-to-tax jobs, and large corporate taxpayers start folding like daily newspapers? Without big business, big government can't function.
A dramatic cascade to doom that conveniently assumes free and untaxed raw material. No, it's better to keep the existing power structures in place.
The whole article sounds like a call for regulation based on a fear of change. Like it's the first time the market has faced technological evolution and doesn't know how to adapt.
- aric 13y ago> The whole article sounds like a call for regulation based on a fear of change. It's the opposite. The article is hypothesizing that regulatory capture will lead to major policy fights against decentralized manufacturing. In fact, that's already the case due to widespread patents that prevent a lot of 3D printing competition -- beyond some recently expired patents, which subsequently allowed a tidal wave of new upstarts to come about (on Kickstarter and so forth). In case it's not clear, the article is not in support of an increase in corporate protection that they're (logically) presuming. One would assume the publication is full support of 3D printing having mass adoption and becoming freer.
- fennecfoxen 13y ago> The whole article sounds like a call for regulation based on a fear of change. Like it's the first time the market has faced technological evolution and doesn't know how to adapt. No it doesn't. It sounds like anticipating and fearing a call for regulation based on a fear of change. Kind of the opposite.
- waterlesscloud 13y agoYeah, it's Reason magazine, a long-running libertarian media outlet. I seriously doubt they're seeking more regulation.