From: Sandy Sandfort <sandfort@crl.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 94 09:11:42 PDT
To: Cypherpunks <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: CONTROL FREAKS
Message-ID: <Pine.3.87.9409120928.A555-0100000@crl2.crl.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                         SANDY SANDFORT
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C'punks,

Samuel Kaplin responded to Duncan's assertion that markets have
ways of dealing with uncertainty, by writing:

    The main assumption here is that the populous and the
    markets realize that they are in a totalitarian state.
    We in the U.S. are evolving closer and closer to this
    and most seem not to see it, and if they do, not to care
    about it.

I think this misses Duncan's point.  Neither the populace nor the
market (the economic interactions of the populace) need to
realize they are in a totalitarian state, to take appropriate
action.  What the market does "know" is how to shift capital from
lesser to more remunerative investments.  This is a homeostatic
flow just like water seeking its own level.

    The senario that I see, is
    [1] the borders being closed....
    [2] All of the firearms and weapons being removed from
    private hands....
    [3] The U.S. economy being isolated from the rest of the
    world....  Once your economy is isolated from the rest
    of the worlds who cares what a dollar is worth....

[1] If they stopped foreign businesspeople and tourists, the
economy suffers.  Without Mexican "guest workers" the price of
agricultural products go through the ceiling.  The US can afford
to close its boarders.
[2] I'm a gun nut; I know gun nuts.  If you want to see a civil
war, just try to remove the *200 million* guns from private
hands.  Gun ownership is *growing* not declining.  These folks
are *serious* about keeping their weapons.  Contrary to popular
belief, most cops strongly support the rights of civilians to
keep and bear arms.  Who are you going to get to grab the guns?
[3] The US economy is broad, but not that broad.  Without world
trade (especially for petroleum) we would grind to a halt.  In
the meantime, the billions of people who depend on food grown in
America would not quietly lay down and starve.  The government
can, of course, call a dollar whatever it wants.  The more
unrealistic the assessment, however, the faster black markets
will bloom in the "alternative economy."


 S a n d y

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~