Marcy:
I wouldn’t dispute that consensus exists only in small homogeneous
groups. Certainly you don’t find it in a group as huge and diverse as
the LPSF! And there’s no consensus in our society on the
appropriateness of taking property belonging to others (officially it
has always been sanctioned for certain purposes) or on using force to
achieve social goals; there never has been. My sense of the market,
however, is that it provides the best mechanism for coordination and
cooperation among people who don’t agree. Using force for social
goals like eradicating heroin use, for example, turns out to be
extremely expensive, considering all the surveillance and violence
involved; it can really happen only with massive government subsidy.
The reason Big Macs aren’t (sometimes) made out of horsemeat is not
primarily that it would be illegal. Government is necessary for some
purposes, like harassing drug users and waging war on Iraq; for purposes
like insuring that Big Macs aren’t really horsemeat it’s at least not
obviously necessary (or effective).
This is by no means an adequate response to all the issues contained in
your post; it’s just all I have time for at the moment!
[mailto:lpsf-activists@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Amarcy D. Berry