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From: walker@oberon.UUCP (Mike Walker)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory,net.legal
Subject: Re: JoSH's "Statism"
Message-ID: <113@oberon.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 14-Sep-85 21:33:49 EDT
Article-I.D.: oberon.113
Posted: Sat Sep 14 21:33:49 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 19-Sep-85 04:34:05 EDT
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Xref: watmath net.politics.theory:1100 net.legal:2354

What is a society?  One can think of a society as a people with
customs and institutions for relating with one and other.  These
social instituions are what organize daily life.  Some of them are
informal (not proscribed by coersive rules) like dating.  Some are
formal (proscribed by coersive rules) like taxation.  Government is
formal.  It has to be since hurts some people and helps others.
People won't go along voluntarily if they're going to be hurt.  So
government must threaten to hurt them even more if they don't go
along.  Dating is not coersive.  If someone doesn't like it, they
just go their separate way.  Noncoersive or voluntary instituions
must be mutually (though not necessarily equally) benificial or one
of the parties would leave.  What people like me and possible JoSh
want is to replace government by an arrangement of informal
institutions to organize society.  By being being informal they do
not coerce (well they don't initiate coercion).  Thus presumably
all human relationships must be beneficial or one of the parties
would terminate the relationship.

Perhaps Tony thinks that it is alright to hurt some people to help
others, to use some people as mere means to his ends without the
reciprocation of a voluntary relationship.  Thus he likes coersive
institutions such as government since it allows him to use people as
mere means (slaves) to his ends without doing the dirty work (the
violence) himself.  Doesn't it seem a little contridictory to hurt
people in order to help other people?

Anyhow,  if the "fabric of society" is woven of chains then I'd like
to see that fabric torn.  Instead it should be a fabric of
cooperation.

Mike Walker
walker@oberon.UUCP (I think?)

PS  yeah it was that fabric of society remark that ticked me off
    and initiated this diatribe