trc (03/24/83)
David: I agree that it might be difficult for large scale economies to function justly without government. (This is not proven, since no one has ever tried it.) However, since the purpose of government is to assure justice (enforce valid contracts among people, protect rights, provide rational use of force when rights are violated), I think that "interference" is not the correct word to use. It implies that, since the government is right to "interfere" in some areas, there is nothing wrong with it going into areas it was not intended to. The government should not be an economic factor, in the sense that it should avoid influencing the economy. It will have some influence, since it will have to purchase supplies to carry out its functions. However, it should act as a consumer, not a regulator, in these cases. (Too often the government uses its influence as a big customer to influence manufacturers - EG in requiring certain regulations to be obeyed. If a regulation is worth government enforcement, it should be directly enforced, not by a form of blackmail.) I think I answered the question of the thief by saying that what he does is wrong because it violates REAL rights of others. Perhaps I cannot find a better argument than that. However, I will attempt to show that theft is not good for the thief, since I was originally trying to show that those rights do exist. Presume that the thief wishes to avoid his society's justice. Then he must act in certain ways. The source of his income must be kept secret. His actions must be kept secret. His means of making a living must be disguised, so that it is not apparent that he is getting income without valid source. These factors alone lead to a life of paranoia and constant fear. The thief cannot even enjoy the value from what he has stolen, lest he be brought under suspicion. And suppose the thief makes a "killing", and runs off to enjoy it in a country where he cannot be touched. In doing so, he has run to a place without full justice, and so has lost some of the value of a just society, as well as becoming an exile from his own country. Life might be fairly pleasant, so long as none of his victims comes looking for him. Hence, a source for paranoia in paradise. I do not intend to make a case by case analysis of all the possible ways that a thief might enjoy his illicit gains. As I said before, there may be a few ways that a thief might gain enough security and peace that it would be worthwhile. But statistically, it would be foolish to assume that one would be the thief to achieve that, since so few do. And on the topic of kings and such, consider the risks and worries involved with being an obvious target. And certainly there can be few thieves more successful than a crooked king! - I get MY money from American Bell, Inc Tom Craver houti!trc