RE: A practical problem for the Anarchist and New Age Voluntarists (and any other starry-eyed idealist). (featuring @vuyusile as author)
I really appriciate your inquisitive mind. Seek and ye shall find. I have an entire series of articles that outline very real solutions to everything you have listed above.
What is often overlooked is that the vast majority of real crime comes from side effects of government (drug laws, etc). More money is stolen by government asset forfeitures (not taxes) than all private thefts combined.
Conclusion, absent taxes everyone could easily afford to pay for insurance that would completely replace the cost of stolen / damaged property. Insurance companies would have financial incentive to investigate for the sole purpose of preventing fraudulent claims.
Insurance companies would not insure anyone who they suspect of being guilty of theft or property damage until restitution is paid.
This would be incredibly affordable for the poor and middle class once you remove the huge burden of government and introduce free market competition.
With respect to murder you must realize that prison is not a deterrent. Loss of social standing and reputation in the economy is a far greater deterrent than prison. If government fails to prevent these things today, the only thing more government will do is increase the rate of violence.
The end result of government is financial irresponsibility leading to economic collapse.
Requiring perfection from voluntary societies is a double standard when you do not require perfection from statist societies.
In my humble opinion, governments kill more innocent people every year than all private murders combined.
I'm a big advocate of nonviolence. I was raised by two pacifist parents. I'm a conscientious objector with a lot of interest in the works of Ghandi, MLK, and others.
I tell you all this to point out I share your values even thought what I'm about to say might cause you to think I do not share your values.
Have you read Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker? He's gathered a ton of data that I think clearly demonstrates that governments throughout history of reduced violence, even though they use violence to do this.
Your response above about insurance is a very interesting idea. That being said, I think your response to violence is exceptionally inadequate. You basically didn't provide any useful suggestion about how to deal with the problem of violence in South Africa. You just give a nebulous argument about loss of social capital needing to force people to change their behavior, but you say nothing about how to put in place the mechanisms for this loss in social capital to come about in a society in which violence is currently not causing the necessary loss in social capital that is needed to get the violence to stop.
So, I ask you again, how would you go about reducing the violence in this very specific situation?
I am so grateful for the persons that take time to respond and engage. These sound like intriguing theoretical solutions but I struggle to allow them to displace my practical skepticism. Don't get me wrong - I am wholly open to doing it differently; the present system is working badly at many levels. I think we must find creative but viable alternatives.
The status quo only changes when it is sufficiently disrupted, and of course this is what is attractive about what you are doing with this site. When I lift my head from the process of blogging and remind myself that this platform is acquiring a life of its own and is much bigger than any single person's opinions, especially mine, then I see this project as a social disrupter that may create the space for change.
When that space opens up, what is the kind of change that we intend to innovate? How will the economic underpinnings of this platform shape the social mutation in the evolutionary process? I think these are the most interesting questions. Are we asking them?
Thanks for taking the time to engage with me.
Ultimately the platform will evolve to be like most platforms in the sense that those frequently monitoring will become more well known, and those who have status. Thus far I have little to no proactivity beyond discussion amongst the chosen few. I would assume this would prevent to some extent mass acceptance and uptake of the platform. https://steemit.com/anarchy/@zev/a-practical-solution-for-the-anarchist-and-new-age-voluntarists
Approx 250 million for the 20th century. Outside of war. Have you seen this Hawaii edu study of democide in the 20th century alone? This is the root, and it's an unsustainable problem.
Yes, people in lifestyles which require them to commit criminalized acts aren't worried about jail time. Maybe it is a big deterrent for what carries a 'life' sentence but circumstances of when and how crimes occur don't usually lend themself to 'thinking it over' and weighing pros and cons.
The justice system just becomes another obstacle in the same sense as a locked door, security cameras, lack of money or drugs, etc.
Moreover, it is an environment where some excell. https://steemit.com/anarchy/@zev/a-practical-solution-for-the-anarchist-and-new-age-voluntarists
Ain't that the truth.
Checkin' out your article now.
There is a huge social standing cost in being sent to prison. It becomes more difficult to find a job and you are always labeled after that. Reputation doesn't mean to everyone what it means to yourself. You can't see the world through a mirror.