Re: Justice and Punishment

Dan Fabulich (daniel.fabulich@yale.edu)
Wed, 01 Apr 1998 18:38:40 -0500


At 03:59 AM 4/2/98 +1000, you wrote:
>so a billionaire's whim would be much more powerful than any "standard"
>indivual's greatest desire. What would stop someone like Bill Gates from
>doing what he will with 10000000 Indians? Not to mention that most
>people's wieldable money (spare money?) is much less than 2% of a rich
>person's spare money.

Theoretically, he could, but after doing so he wouldn't be Bill Gates
anymore. He wouldn't just have to have lots of money, he'd have to SPEND
his money (all of it) in order to get that kind of power.

>Also, what's the difference between a large PPA and
>a standard nation state, in which you pay taxes to be protected?
>What will protect you from your own PPA?

Other PPAs. If your PPA decides to get tyrannical, you decide to stop
paying them for protection and instead pay another PPA (who will gladly
accept your funds) to protect you against your current PPA. If your
current PPA is really being tyrannical, then lots of people will favor this
strategy and the tyrannical PPA will be out of funding. They may still try
to wage war, and lose even more money, until eventually they'll be out of
business.

-TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO LIVE-