Debate : 25235


Off-Topic / Debate / 25235

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Larry Pieniazek

(...) Seriously? Have you read "The Road to Serfdom"? I'm just curious. (...) OK, can I run a thought experiment here for a sec? Suppose I'm a brain surgeon and a darn good one. Save lots of lives every day I go in to work. But one day I decide my (...) (20 years ago, 9-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Christopher L. Weeks

(...) I haven't. If I was going to take the time to read this or Machinery of Freedom (which I've meant to read forever) which would you suggest? (...) But of course! (...) Digging holes (useful ones, that is) is perfectly honorable work and should (...) (20 years ago, 10-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Larry Pieniazek

(...) Do you want a more thorough and scholarly treatment of one particular aspect of this overall question (how best to organize societies), or a broader but less thorough treatment of many aspects? Road to Serfdom focuses on fewer aspects. (...) (20 years ago, 10-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Dave Schuler

(...) This sounds to me like a strong statement in support of Chris' thesis that one person's workhour is not inherently worth more than another's. If my brain is working just fine (let's say that it is), and the brains of my friends and family (...) (20 years ago, 10-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Larry Pieniazek

(...) But suppose you're not? What I'm driving at here is that it is difficult to take worth as stated by the person doing the task... and that further, some activities are indeed worth less. It rather seems to me that even in Chris's scheme he's (...) (20 years ago, 10-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Dave Schuler

(...) In a market-ruled society the same would be true of any essential task that no one wanted to perform. (...) Knowing your preference for "outcome" versus "intent," I would speculate that the years of training are, in the end, irrelevant to your (...) (20 years ago, 10-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Larry Pieniazek

(...) Sure, sure... that's the free rider problem. The pat answer solution is to figure out how to price the task into the costs borne by those to whom it is essential. (note: government is the most common, but not only, mechanism for doing that (...) (20 years ago, 10-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Scott Arthur

(...) …and I predict that in 20 years time the technology will be obligatory as it will be used for road pricing! Scott A PS Ubiquitous perhaps. I doubt GPS will ever be a "necessity" as long has humans still drive; I don't even normally carry a map (...) (20 years ago, 11-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Christopher L. Weeks

I actually agree with an awful lot of what Larry says in this thread. But not all of it. And I think he's misread me in a couple of places. I'm not talking about eliminating market mechanisms from the determination of what work can be rewarded. Only (...) (20 years ago, 11-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Larry Pieniazek

(...) Well, I tend to remember "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations" and "a fool and his money are soon parted" and not worry about that. That's a pat answer but ... (...) So there's a unit of currency and it's a manhour, then? All else (...) (20 years ago, 11-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Christopher L. Weeks

(...) You can give gifts of your time. You can not institute and exchange that values your time more highly than another's. Chris (20 years ago, 11-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Larry Pieniazek

(...) OK. So if I know that it takes the average hole digging person an hour to dig a hole of a certain size, and that's an accepted market value, can I charge 50 minutes to dig it instead of an hour (giving a discount or a gift if you like)? Is (...) (20 years ago, 11-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Christopher L. Weeks

(...) There isn't exactly an accepted market value. I'm thinking about this. (...) My first reaction is yes, yes, no. But maybe it really does need to be no, yes, no or it falls apart due to a breach in internal consistency. (...) I think people do (...) (20 years ago, 11-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Frank Filz

"Christopher Weeks" <clweeks@eclipse.net> wrote in message news:I2AH9I.13p2@lugnet.com... (...) not (...) of (...) Tercells (...) Lexus (...) almost (...) never (...) or (...) enough for (...) should (...) to pay (...) a (...) hour (...) Hmm, how (...) (20 years ago, 11-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Christopher L. Weeks

(...) I guess your main point is that _some_ services will have greater demand than supply and the free market provides a method of allocation. Off hand (though I'll continue to think about this) I would leave it to the individual suppliers to (...) (20 years ago, 11-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Frank Filz

"Christopher Weeks" <clweeks@eclipse.net> wrote in message news:I2ALon.22wt@lugnet.com... (...) needs a (...) some (...) hour." (...) wants (...) True, that's a lot of it, but not all. He wants to hire the most efficient excavator, because he knows (...) (20 years ago, 11-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Re: Preaching to the Choir —Christopher L. Weeks

(...) But, standing around flailing with a shovel _is_ useful, otherwise he wouldn't want it done. And in any case, it takes just as much time out of that person's life to perform those diggerly theatrics as it takes for a real excavator to dig for (...) (20 years ago, 11-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)