> a mode of 'voluntary' interaction that others, myself included, argued is indistinguishable from feudalism
Good thing you've got The State extorting and enslaving you then, to protect you from that "feudalism".
I'd rather a democratically elected state than a cabal of wealthy warlords.
Re:The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto (1988)
by clarkmoody on Thursday June 15, 2017 @05:29PM
(#14564535)
What about a democratically elected state that creates wealthy warlords with tax dollars and then wages war on their behalf?
Interesting that you see a difference. Who do you think the democratically elected are? "Wealthy ..."
Its telling that you don't see a difference.
And An-Caps never seem to understand why nobody takes them seriously.
Re:The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto (1988)
by duncan_bayne on Thursday June 15, 2017 @05:51PM
(#14564710)
I'm not an anarchist myself. But what exactly do you think we have now, in many Western countries? There is more than one way to end up with a Rumsfeld or Cheney in power.
I'm actually sympathetic to your viewpoint, but there is a very real difference between hereditary despots-for-life and imperfectly-constitutionally constrained, term-limited assholes-in-chief.
Re:The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto (1988)
by duncan_bayne on Sunday June 18, 2017 @04:14AM
(#14579591)
Indeed. I fear though that one is a stepping stone to the other.
Tim May was a vocal, eloquent proponent of anarcho-capitalism[1], and believed that crypto and the net were crucial tools that would tip the balance of power between the individual and the state, cause an erosion of tax-collection powers, and eventually tip the world into a mode of 'voluntary' interaction that others, myself included, argued is indistinguishable from feudalism.
[1] For those of you who are aware of the various minute distinctions made around these schools of thought, May proposed a very "hard" form, arguing that 'voluntary' agreement to slavery and whatnot were perfectly acceptable.