From: "Blanc" <blancw@cnw.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 04:49:00 +0800
To: <cypherpunks@EINSTEIN.ssz.com>
Subject: RE: Another question about free-markets..
Message-ID: <000e01bdf046$7b509ee0$7e8195cf@blanc>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



>From Jim Choate:

: Now in a free-market, by definition, there is no law. What then is the
: responsibility of businesses other than the pure unadulterated pursuit of
: profit? If this includes lying, denying consumers information, etc. what
: harm is done, they have fulfilled their responsibility to their shareholders
: (potentialy quite lucratively) and broken no law. Within this environment it
: follows that a primary strategy for such executives is the elimination of
: *all* competition. And since there is no law other than the measure of profit
: all can be justified.
................................................................................


There might be no Law.   But there would still be Reality  -  and for some
people, this is *much* harder to deal with.

If customers sit around like lumps on a log depending upon the kindness of
strangers, well they're not doing themselves any favors.  But such a person is
not a customer.  They are an invalid (or will be, eventually).

In a free-market economy, everybody - not only corporations, not only
customers - have to be rational about what they're doing.   Everybody has to "be
on their toes", alert to what truly is in their interest, and prevent themselves
from accepting, from supporting, self-defeating offers from Trojans bearing
spam.   You learn or you die, just like in the movies.


   ..
Blanc