91 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 6 Feb \ parent \ on: Realization about the Appeal of a Mixed Economy econ
The trickiest part about discussing the first point is getting people to be realistic. We're talking about people who struggle in the current environment, too, despite all the coercion. Oftentimes, people will reject a voluntary society because it doesn't have a good answer for those cases either. The burden of proof should be on the coercive solution, by the way, not the voluntary one.
The most common case people make is that a free society is much wealthier and therefor there's much more potential for private charity to provide services. Another similar case (that I like more) is that state provision of services for the poor has crowded out private associations that used to take care of community members and it's reasonable to expect those to return if the state withdrew.
The simplest (and admittedly least rigorous) case is to just look at an economic freedom index and ask yourself whether you'd rather be poor in the countries at the top of the list or the countries at the bottom.
Freedom gets a bad wrap, because it's harder to understand how everything will work itself out than when there's a defined program, but in the long-run a rising tide really does lift all boats. (and, yes, I realize that's an ironic metaphor)
Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. It is worth noting that this type of transition would cause a lot of economic pain in the beginning stages at least, but (while you may think it's ironic) your closing metaphor does hold with a long enough time preference.
I'd be a bit weary of private charity associations returning given the mindsets of many people I've come across in my personal life, but the Bitcoin community is one that gives me hope that there are still good people out there who want to make change for the better (and yes, I know that must sound about as cliche as it gets). Thanks for your response as it has helped clear up my thoughts.
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That's what I attempt to be here for.
I appreciate the way you framed the discussion. I think it opened the door for people with pretty much any point of view to weigh-in.
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