From: cman@IO.COM (Douglas Barnes)
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 93 15:53:21 PDT
To: frissell@panix.com (Duncan Frissell)
Subject: Re: Net Regulation
In-Reply-To: <199310251724.AA09315@panix.com>
Message-ID: <9310252247.AA01128@illuminati.IO.COM>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



There are several severe limitations to how big of a movement this
could really be: 

1) Let's say, just for instance, that all computer programmers in Europe
   and the US switch places, and become Permanent Tourists. Do you think
   that anyone would notice? Do you think there might be some sort of 
   action taken at the national government level? Would it be effective?

2) Even in this highly select hypothetical group, I would say that the
   vast majority still don't even grasp or have access to the basic
   technology for using even the most simple net tools. Even if we
   eliminated all of the COBOL programmers, we'd still be looking at a 
   tough row to hoe. 

3) One of the persistent problems in solving unemployment problems in
   both the US and Europe is that folks JUST WON'T MOVE. This is more
   true in Europe than the US, but we can look at numerous examples where
   the need for particular skills (or any skills at all) will evaporate
   in one part of the country while there are shortages elsewhere. Some
   people will have sufficient gumption to load up the U-Haul and beat
   it, but most will hang around, going on welfare and engaging in 
   cargo-cult-like behavior waiting for jobs to appear from the sky.

   Most Americans are hidebound, closed-minded people who couldn't even
   find the US on an unlabelled map, much less MOVE to another COUNTRY.

4) The inability of most of our fellow citizens to process text and
   numbers is staggering; it's not clear by any means that they're 
   ready for jobs in their same CITY where they live, if it involves
   any significant reading or writing skills. How are these people going
   to fare in your scenario? Remeber, they're still citizens of an
   alleged democracy and thus have their collective finger on one of the
   largest coercive apparati in the world.

5) If folks don't move, but try to get cute with where their income
   is coming from, they will almost certainly be persecuted by the IRS,
   independent of current law, if their numbers become significant. This
   is probably true even if foreign nationals are involved, especially
   if they pose any significant load on government services. Imagine
   the resentment of, say, a local rancher, tied to physical and taxable
   goods: "Awww, he's onenna them computer-head tax evaders, think he's
   so smart. I'm a-gonna point out him out to the tax boys, and they'll 
   fix him but good."

It wouldn't take too many "examples" to force whatever tax regime the IRS
felt was necessary. The majority of taxpayers in this country are *not*
going to be to be PTs for a long, long time, or are employed in 
professions where it simply won't work (teaching, day-care, nursing, 
car repair, food service, plumbing, construction, agricultural labor,
physical plant maintenance, transportation and delivery, product assembly,
live entertainment, etc., and, of course, the government itself). 

I think that individuals like you, and the others on this list, may 
slowly leak out of the US economy over the next ten years, but it will
probably pass largely unnoticed; if it gains enough momentum, someone 
*will* notice and take steps to make it sufficiently chancy that most
folks will cough up some or all of the required taxes. 

The vast majority of folks, even the high-tech industry, are unwilling
to do anything that would take them out of their cozy home towns or 
suburban enclaves, force them to ship the enormous quantities of material 
crud that they've acquired across one ocean or another, or, god forbid, 
run afoul of the IRS. 


-- 
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Douglas Barnes            cman@illuminati.io.com            /  \ 
Chief Wizard         (512) 448-8950 (d), 447-7866 (v)      / () \
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