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SteveDallas · 06-05-2003, 01:07 PM

There are so many things to say on this topic... I hardly know where to start except to suggest that we all [re]read "The Lord of the Flies!"

I think it comes down to money. We live in an age of great specialization. I have certain skills that fortunately are valued enough that I get paid for using them. So in that way I provide necessities for myself and my family. If I had to grow food myself, or build my own house, or stuff like that, instead of using my money that I've earned to pay other people to do it, I'd be up the proverbial creek. (OTOH I would probably have also bothered to ACQUIRE those skills somewhere along the line.)

And, I think, in a specialized society, you have to have some kind of government to mediate the currency. We all know there's nothing to stop me from printing up "Steve Dollars" and using them to pay for my groceries. And there's nothing to stop the grocery store from taking them. But they won't, because they don't trust me. But they do trust the government, so the grocery store will take government-issued money from me. And part of that guarantee behind the currency--it's implicit but I think it's there--is that the government honors your right to make those purchases and keep them. In other words, once I've paid over money for a bag of potato chips, those are MY potato chips and the government will enforce those property rights on my behalf.

If there's no central currency-issuing body that everybody trusts to provide a common means of exchange and back it up, then it becomes much harder to "do business" and people end up being more self-sufficient. Each unit (family, or whatever) holds onto whatever they can hold onto. And it's much easier for a more powerful (usually in the physical force sense) entity to take your stuff. And if that entity is actually the government well then, forget it.

06-05-2003, 01:07 PM	#2
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	There are so many things to say on this topic... I hardly know where to start except to suggest that we all [re]read "The Lord of the Flies!" I think it comes down to money. We live in an age of great specialization. I have certain skills that fortunately are valued enough that I get paid for using them. So in that way I provide necessities for myself and my family. If I had to grow food myself, or build my own house, or stuff like that, instead of using my money that I've earned to pay other people to do it, I'd be up the proverbial creek. (OTOH I would probably have also bothered to ACQUIRE those skills somewhere along the line.) And, I think, in a specialized society, you have to have some kind of government to mediate the currency. We all know there's nothing to stop me from printing up "Steve Dollars" and using them to pay for my groceries. And there's nothing to stop the grocery store from taking them. But they won't, because they don't trust me. But they do trust the government, so the grocery store will take government-issued money from me. And part of that guarantee behind the currency--it's implicit but I think it's there--is that the government honors your right to make those purchases and keep them. In other words, once I've paid over money for a bag of potato chips, those are MY potato chips and the government will enforce those property rights on my behalf. If there's no central currency-issuing body that everybody trusts to provide a common means of exchange and back it up, then it becomes much harder to "do business" and people end up being more self-sufficient. Each unit (family, or whatever) holds onto whatever they can hold onto. And it's much easier for a more powerful (usually in the physical force sense) entity to take your stuff. And if that entity is actually the government well then, forget it.