From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Wed Aug 07 2002 - 11:54:25 MDT
>From: Charlie Stross <charlie@antipope.org>
>What is government for?
>That's the rub.
>(I hate to say it here because it's bound to generate a knee-jerk
>response from the minarchist contingent hereabouts, but I am in
>favour of big government for certain purposes. *Not* for letting
>some inbred loon in a crown indulge their droit de seigneur, or
>for allowing a posturing idiot in a suit to declare war on people
>who didn't vote for him, but for organising those common functions
>that don't self-organise and don't work well in the market but
>that we the people can benefit from. We live in a complex, and
>ever more complex world, and it increasingly requires regulatory
>mechanisms. This is axiomatic -- to me, if not to you -- and if
>you don't agree, then we'll just have to agree to differ.)
I agree with you about the need for regulatory mechanisms, the need
for them has been clear ever since Watt's flyball governor.
Where we disagree is that it takes "big" government to accomplish
this. Government should be no larger than required, and in a well
designed system should be quite small.
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
SBC/Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
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