From: "Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 01:21:44 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Culling the proles with crypto anarchy
In-Reply-To: <1.5.4.32.19961127210637.006e33c4@popd.ix.netcom.com>
Message-ID: <v03007800aec99ea1af30@[207.167.93.63]>
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At 4:06 PM -0500 11/27/96, Clay Olbon II wrote:
>At 12:46 PM 11/27/96 -0800, Dave Kinchlea <security@kinch.ark.com> wrote:

>>I am not in a position to argue with you, I simply don't have the facts.
>>My question is, do You? can you cite where this figure came from, it
>>sounds like Republican rhetoric to me. Of course, I will point out, that
>>minimum wage is simply not enough to feed a family. It is (or at least
>>it should be) reserved for single folks just starting out.
>
>Can't give you the exact date, but it was an article in our local paper (The
>Detroit News).  The $10 figure is not exact, as the actual number varies
>from state to state, I remember that number as being about average.

I can confirm the gist of Clay's point: I saw a table listing "effective
hourly welfare pay" for the 50 states and D.C. This was in the "San Jose
Mercury News," at least 8-10 months ago (and presumably elsewhere, as it
was a major story). I used it in one of my articles, and gave the reference
then (sorry, not handy, and my own welfare rate does not pay me enough to
spend hours sifting through past articles for something so minor, an old
cite, that is).

The interesting thing was that New York had an effective welfare pay rate
of $14 an hour, and New York City was more than that (due to higher
benefits and higher taxes dragging down the income of actual workers). By
"effective" the idea is to add up direct welfare benefits, food stamps, WIC
payments, AFDC payments, and then correct for the various tax treatments
(e.g., some or all of these benefits are untaxed). A worker would have to
be earning $14 an hour, or about $30 K a year, to get the same amount of
effective take home pay that a welfare recipient with two children receives.

Given that the worker has to get up at, say, 6 a.m., get on a bus or train
or in a car to get to work, put up with hassles, and, basically, _work_,
the welfare alternative looks pretty good. Which is of course the problem
so-called democratic societies are having--increasing numbers of layabouts,
slackers, and leeches.

The "list relevance" of this is this: crypto provides means of hiding
income, or arbitraging income sources and regulations, and of basically
undermining the welfare state.

Many of my tradtionally libertarian friends dispute my beliefs, but I
believe income disparities will grow with time, not decrease. The top tier
of fiction writers, for example, can easily earn several million dollars or
more a year, while the second tier sees their stuff remaindered and the
third tier never makes it into print. Ditto for programmers and others.
With the "force multiplication" seen in modern economies, there are vast
riches to be had for the best few percent in any field, and much less for
the drones. Those with no skills to hire out face the prospect of zero
income, with not even there physical labor in demand.

I basically see no hope for the bottom 30% of the population, and less and
less hope for the bottom 70%.

Fortunately, my ethical system is such that I see this as just the nature
of things, evolution in action. Crypto anarchy will do a more efficient job
of culling than many imagine.

--Tim May



Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside"
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."