From: Alex F. Bokov (alexboko@umich.edu)
Date: Tue Oct 16 2001 - 11:14:17 MDT
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On Mon, 15 Oct 2001, J. R. Molloy wrote:
> "don't pay politicians"? Good idea!! How do you propose to evade paying taxes
> (which are used to pay politicians)? As for entangling alliances... I guess
1) Lobby like hell to protect online privacy, crypto and anonymity. Support
the EFF and the ACLU.
2) If you code and have spare time, support the efforts of various groups
writing and testing e-cash and crypto software.
3) Open an account with E-Gold or a similar company, and use this account
at every opportunity. BUT AVOID THOSE DAMN NAZI SELLOUTS AT PAYPAL. IMO.
4) Whenever possible, buy stuff you need through auction sites. This helps
individuals and small businesses and gets you a better deal.
5) Look into establishing an offshore bank account. For less than a grand,
you can get a checking account and a pre-paid Visa or Mastercard debit
card (last I checked), so you'll be buying privacy without sacrificing
the convenience.
6) Vote Libertarian. Especially in local elections. Join your local
Libertarian chapter.
7) Adopt a smart but uninformed person who seems interested in this stuff
and show them how to use computers, how to protect their privacy, etc.
8) Come up with ideas to disintermediate authority and refine these ideas
with members of your favorite think tank.
9) Above all, remember that government is not a fact of life, not a force
of nature, just another institution that we built, and that we will
dismantle once it has completely outlived its usefulness.
> they go with the territory, no matter where the territory is, and no matter
> how small the territory. Office politics infect even small businesses.
I don't have a problem with alliances or politics. I have a problem with
incompetent policies being decided in secret supposedly on my behalf but
really benefitting entities I don't give a damn about.
> > Granted, but as a tax payer
>
> There you go... you're paying politicians.
Grr. Don't remind me.
> > I'm forced to foot part of this cost
> > regardless of how many petroleum products I actually consume.
>
> If you buy petroleum products, you pay the extra excise tax collected at the
> pump or point of sale.
Perhaps this tax should be increased until it reflects the actual
costs of the services the US armed forces provide to oil
companies. Why should people who walk to work subsidize other people's
fuel? Furthermore, such a tax will increase the economic incentive for
developing alternative energy sources, thus obsoleting yet another lot
of porkbarrel projects. TANSTAAFL.
> with government, but then, in the US the government and industry are savvy
> enough to know that they are two sides of the same coin, and that coin means
> economic stability.
Except they're working with imperfect information just like everybody
else, and in fact causing political and economic instability. CF:
http://www.cepr.net/globalization/The_Emperor_Has_No_Growth.htm
http://www.brook.edu/views/articles/stiglitz/20000417.htm
> > As a thought experiment, what if we just stopped having a foreign
> > policy for a decade or so?
>
> Oh, you mean like re-instate the Clinton administration? ©¿©¬
??? In what sense was the Clinton administration non-interventionist?!
> Well, that sounds good to me, but the US government wouldn't go for it,
> because it would mean that a huge part of government would be out of jobs, and
> consequently the liberals (aka, socialists) wouldn't go for it because it
> would reduce the size of government, which is something they want to avoid.
Liberals and conservatives both, these days. Notice how you haven't been
hearing any 'big government' rhetoric from the right lately? They only
favor less pork when they're the piggies furthest away from the feeding
trough.
> Better yet, just say: The only good Wahhabi is a dead Wahhabi.
No, because then I'll sound like an ignorant, trigger-happy
redneck. It's important to me that I am recognized for the
cosmopolitan, post-modern, educated, trigger-happy redneck that I am.
- --
* I believe that the majority of the world's Muslims are good, *
* honorable people. If you are a Muslim and want to reassure me and *
* others that you are part of this good, honorable majority, all *
* you need to say are nine simple words: "I OPPOSE the Wahhabi cult *
* and its Jihad." *
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