From: jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com>
Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 10:01:29 +0800
To: liberty@gate.net (Jim Ray)
Subject: Re: AP
Message-ID: <199605211950.MAA11596@mail.pacifier.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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At 04:28 PM 5/20/96 +0000, Jean-Francois Avon wrote:  [quoting Jim Ray>>]

>Interesting.  Has AP ever popped-up in the conventional medias?

Other than the article I quote in its entirety in Part 8 of AP, an article 
from the Asahi Evening News (an english-language daily newspaper in Japan), no.


>Then, again, I know an awfull lot of people who would applaude Bell.  
>But most of them are not computer litterate.  They are from another 
>generation, not brainwashed by "Don't ask what your country can 
>do for you; ask what you can do for your country"...

Unfortunately, it generally takes knowledge of at least computer networking, 
with a little knowledge of encryption and a vaguely passing familiarity with 
digital cash, to understand AP with enough detail to be useful.  But I'm 
constantly amazed at how many people really APPRECIATE the idea, and its 
ramifications.


>> This kind of thinking might authorize a massive Cherokee
>> massacre if it spread, IMO.
>
>Please, do point out the similarities and the differences... I think 
>that the context is very different.

If anything, I think AP would have allowed Indians to defend themselves, had 
they had access to it.

>> We must, as
>> Libertarians, face the fact that taxation we object to is not seen
>> by many people as coercive.

I don't think this is necessary:  They need not see that something is wrong 
to be deterred by the possibility of their agents getting killed doing 
something that they see as "non-coercive."



>> Even then, I prefer the judicial process to the oligarchy
>> this scheme would entail
>
>This scheme is *not* an oligarchy.  Pay a visit to any good dictionary 
>near you.  Words have precise meaning and it is *much* better to 
>stick to it...
>
>Actually, since it is ruled by money, it might be a "buckarchy", but 
>again, everybody can spare a few bucks, so it might be a democracy 
>too if you insist on twisting the meaning of words.

Yes, I think it would be a good idea to name the resulting society...


Jim Bell
jimbell@pacifier.com