[tcaudilllg]

Rainer the current reforms are just baby steps. They have to start somewhere to create all the infrastructure for the exchange. The insurance industry will jack up rates -- one more time -- and then you'll see things start turning your way. But we've gotta wait for them to blow it first, so that we have something to point to and say, "did we or did we not tell you so?"

As for the content regulation nonsense, yeah that's a sore sticking point. But the courts will take care of it.

I agree local governments can be outright stupid. Particularly left-wing governments. At the local level it's hard to focus attention on individuals like there is at the federal level.

RC man I read your blog like once a year. I read it all, catch up with the Joneses and that's that.

Getting better about avoiding the controversial stuff. In general, watch out for article titles that beg questions, and any opinion point that strikes you as insensible. Like the other day I saw this tripe on AOL about how the U.S. constitution doesn't seperate church and state. You can bet I put my time to good use by NOT reading that.

[RampantCoyote]

I guess my geeky view is that government is kinda like the Operating System of society - I prefer mine to be minimal and not bloated with crap I don't use, providing just core structure so that I can have maximum resources devoted to my own stuff, which is much more important to me.

But then, why am I still using Windows? :)
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[tcaudilllg]

There is a hard and fast rule to follow when considering government interventionalism: when someone else is in position to take advantage of you, particularly to blackmail you, then government intervention is warranted.

[RampantCoyote]

So your utopia would be a Harrison Bergeron society where the only group with an advantage over anybody else is the government? :)

I assume you mean, as I would, that a legitimate purpose of government is to protect its citizens from those who have an advantage over them with the rule of law. You may be bigger, stronger, and smarter than me, but you still can't take anything from me or force me to act without my consent in a reasonably fair deal.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[Malignus]

[RampantCoyote]

Of course. I was just noting that while we were probably in fundamental agreement there with the general concept, I just wanted to make sure the wording didn't mean we were talking about totally different things.

But there is an element to the Bergeron comparison, with progressive taxation. I'm not saying that's a bad or even unnecessary thing, but it's the way it is. All I can say (and I doubt many would disagree with me, at least not publicly) is that taxes really need to be greatly simplified.

Since we seem to have put the original "CIVIL WAR?!?!?!?!" question to bed :) - I'd like to ask you guys a few questions. Maybe this should be in another thread, but here it is:

#1 - What is wealth? What is money? Are they the same thing?

#2 - Is wealth static, or dynamic? Can it be created, or is it a zero sum game?

#3 - Do you think economies at a very large level (state, nation, or even global) are fundamentally different from those at a smaller level - say, a household, or a small business? If so, at what point do they diverge, and why?
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[Malignus]

1. In my view, wealth is a measure of one's quality of life and money is currency. There's correlation between money and wealth, since money provides the fuel to purchase whatever goods and services one needs. But it's possible to lead a rich existence with a comparatively small income in countries where the cost of living is low, or where expansive public goods and services offset much of the need to spend money in the private market (e.g. public transit offsetting the need to buy a car, public parks offsetting the need to buy a large plot of land so you can have a yard, etc.)

2. Wealth is dynamic. You can have the same amount of money in your economy, but how it's distributed has serious effects on peoples' ability to sustain decent standards of living.

3. Sort of. An economy of any scale is driven by actors with limited information, meaning that even when they act rationally with the information they are provided, economic actors oftentimes make bad decisions. Dad might gamble his savings on opening a business in an industry about to go bust; the banks might blow everyone's money on risky mortgages.

But the goals are different when you look at microeconomies vs. economies of scale. The goal of a government isn't to make a profit: it's to provide for the health and welfare of its citizens. (Which is why I always get annoyed when people talk about running the government like a business.)

[tcaudilllg]

Well the Dems lost. I think it was because of the media, which tried aggressively to intimidate Democratic voters, and a general sense of antipathy amongst American left-leaners (primarily because a Republican wasn't trying to become president, or president already). Also, a small minority of Democrats was very put off by the lack of a public option in the health bill, and demonstrated their displeasure by staying away from the polls.

I think the Dems will do better in 2012 due to Obama's presence on the ticket, but it will still be hard for them to capture the majority due to the presence of liberal extremists who will try to force them into an (unnecessary) full blown takeover of health care.

[tcaudilllg]

So after Wikileaks, do you guys think the prospect for a civil war in the U.S. is still vanishingly small?

It looks like a massive anti-U.S. sentiment is exploding around the world.

[codeugly]

I think we would be more likely to see another World War before we see another American Civil war. Yes politics and corporations are slowly gaining traction against the average US citizen, but they are still being cautious and tactful in pulling the rug out from under us. And US citizens while growing angry, have yet to truly grow violent to a great scale and magnatude.
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As seen on TV
http://www.codeugly.com

[RampantCoyote]

Seems like it's on already (but no guns yet), and innocent people are getting hurt. Nothing they can't recover from eventually, but it ain't pretty.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[Malignus]

[tcaudilllg]

Aren't there other merchant services like PayPal unassociated with Wikileaks? Maybe he should use those.

I don't want a civil war. I want the criminals -- who do not include Brad Manning or Julian Assange -- brought to justice. According to Wikipedia's sources, Manning was compelled to do what he did because of atrocities he witnessed in Iraq.

Unfortunately, the law does not appear to be on the peoples' side.

[RampantCoyote]

Manning will get his chance in court. The question will be if it's in civilian court or military. There are laws, I understand, giving you some protection in a case like this. You hope that the truth will come out, but... well, we'll see.

Seems like the force applied against Assange to flush him out sorta sidestepped that whole "rule of law" thing. After all, laws are only for the little people, right?
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[tcaudilllg]