violence vouchers

What can we do to change the minds of decision makers and people in general to actually do something about preparing for the forthcoming economic/energy crises (the ones after this one!)?

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emordnilap
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violence vouchers

Post by emordnilap »

I suspect Steve will like this one: Violence Vouchers: A Descriptive Account of Property
A private property economy is not built upon the trading of pieces of the world really. It is built upon a market of government-issued violence vouchers. These violence vouchers are what really establish what we call “ownership.” These violence vouchers are what coerce people to trade. These violence vouchers are what make “ownership” over pieces of the world at all valuable. It is these well-placed threats of violence that actually animate the so-called “voluntary” capitalist economy, and descriptions of the institution of property that fail to capture this core reality are inadequate.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
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