From: Adam Back <aba@dcs.ex.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 03:27:33 +0800
To: declan@well.com
Subject: Re: Jim Bell article excerpt (Was: Letter on Jim Bell)
In-Reply-To: <v03007803b0d8265bac75@[168.161.105.216]>
Message-ID: <199801061908.TAA00400@server.eternity.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain




Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> writes:

Declan reposting something he wrote last year:

> After I pointed this out to Bell on the phone [someone might
> assassinate annoying neighbors], he fired email back a few days
> later saying, "Assuming a functioning Assassination Politics system,
> nothing stops you from contributing to my death."  He suggested that
> maybe assassins would develop scruples: "You'd be able to purchase
> deaths of unworthy people, but it might be only at a dramatically
> higher price. Doable but not particularly economical."

You interpret Jim as implying "maybe assassins would develop
scruples"; 

this doesn't look like the meaning of what you quote Jim as saying:

 "You'd be able to purchase deaths of unworthy people, but it might be
  only at a dramatically higher price."

it looks more like Jim was suggesting that free market forces would
tend to prevent deaths of lesser known people.  Think about it -- it
would be dead easy to get a contract on Barney due to the number of
people who know and hate him -- but on an average neighbor, who is
completely obscure, you'd easily have to fund the entire bet yourself.

Adam