From: nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous)
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 12:19:31 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Socio-Economic Cults (Re: CypherPunk Cults)
In-Reply-To: <v03102800b022928487f6@[207.167.93.63]>
Message-ID: <199708220339.FAA09935@basement.replay.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Somebody that looked and sounded like Tim C May wrote:

> >The way I see it is quite simple,  if these peaple where not payed off it
> >is most likely that thay will turn to crime.  Other then condemming every
> >single impovished person to death, this is one of the better soultions to
> >a difficalt problem.
> 
[..]
> Agraphia or not, this is one of the lamest posts I've seen in years. Wealth
> is to be taken from those who have worked for it or put their capitcal at
> risk and given ("redistributed") to those who have done neither, just
> because we're afraid they'll steal it from us or "turn to crime" if we
> don't pay them off?

It certainly sounds like blackmail to me.

> What's wrong with chopping the hands off of thieves and executing muderers?

Surely people on this list are aware of how fallible governments are? 
Those punishments are a bit too final to be within the power of a legal
system so prone to mistakes and corruption. 

Although current western legal systems constrain citizens, they also
constrain the government, which is probably a good thing.  The media is
very weak on reporting abuses of power by police and the military, but at
least they're not always completely covered up.  

Yes, both individuals and governments can break the law, but it stops them
sometimes.

> The United States has a lot of redistribution of wealth and a lot of crime.

Other common oversimplifications include:

 The United States has a large gap between rich and poor and a lot 
 of crime.

 The United States has a lot of lawyers and a lot of crime.

 The United States has a lot of guns and a lot of crime.

::Boots

"Every problem has a simple solution... and it's wrong" -- Mark Twain