From: Sandy <72114.1712@CompuServe.COM>
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 93 13:29:11 PDT
To: <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: NET REGULATION
Message-ID: <931025174804_72114.1712_FHF124-2@CompuServe.COM>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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  SANDY SANDFORT               Reply to:  ssandfort@attmail.com
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Punksters,

Apparently, T. William Wells does not understood the "Permanent
Tourist" concept referenced by Duncan Frissell.  Mr. Wells wrote:

    . . . I could decide to become one of these Permanent
    Tourists. But where would I go?

    What will be my concerns?  Obviously, money will be one
    of them. But so also will be climate, people, activities
    I might not be willing to do without, and on and on.

You do not have to leave home to become a PT.  For the first time
in history, the Net provides a to work anywhere while *appearing*
to live anywhere else.

William added:

    Furthermore, other governments are, almost without
    exception, more repressive than the one I have.

For those PTs who do choose to live overseas, this simply isn't
true.  Foreigners with money to spend are almost always treated
better than the local captive audience.  Sure, there are some
repressive regimes out there, but that needn't affect the PT.

Some other material mistakes of fact by William:

    . . . in the developed world, where most governments are
    willing to cooperate to some extent in the attempt to
    collect revenues.

No they do not.  Most only give lip service to cooperating with
one another.  If Mr. PT moves to country B to avoid taxes in
country A, there is no incentive for country B to cooperate with
country A.  Why?  Because Mr. PT is spending his "ill gotten
gains" in country B.  Why screw with a good thing?

It might be argued that there are PTs from country B who are
living in country A to avoid country B's taxes.  Therefore it
would be in the best interests of both countries to cooperate.
The theory sounds great, but that's not what happens.  For
whatever reason, countries rarely cooperate in this way.

William went on:

    It is a sad fact that governments collectively possess
    the means to physically regulate all of the desirable
    real-estate and most are more willing than ours to use
    physical force to pursue their ends. So Permanent
    Tourist or not, //one can't really escape them//.
    [Emphasis added.]

It is here, William reveals himself.  I used to run into this
"you just can't win" syndrome when I was involved in libertarian
politics.  For every answer, William comes up with another
objection.  As time goes on, the objections depart further and
further from reality and reason.

There are ways to own real estate anonymously.  Force is rarely
used indiscriminately and there are ways to lower your risk. As a
practical matter, YES, YOU REALLY CAN ESCAPE THEM.

Finally, William worries about world governments focusing on us
if we become to good at taking the bread out of their mouths:

    . . . But what happens when the printing-press
    equivalents cease to stave off bankruptcy?

They go bankrupt, William.

 S a n d y

>>>>>>    Please send e-mail to:  ssandfort@attmail.com    <<<<<<
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