I have not used either. I had no protection whatever until 10 years ago. Now, I have a virus-checker (Norton). I have never had any security problem.I have used these principles since 2013. I have never had any security problem related to Bitcoin — Tarskian
... apart from your ability to pay your taxes?The power of the local ruling mafia is continuously being challenged by other political clans who want to replace them. If you've got nothing to do with that, you are simply of no interest to them. — Tarskian
Now, I have a virus-checker (Norton). I have never had any security problem. — Ludwig V
... apart from your ability to pay your taxes? — Ludwig V
Yes. If I had my time again, I would probably adopt Linux long before now. But it would be a big project for me and I think I have more pressing things to attend to. I'll have to manage as I am.A well-structured operating system does not need a virus-checker. — Tarskian
Fair enough. I thought there might be an answer along those lines. What about VAT or sales tax? It is not politically clever to apply taxes that each citizen must individually pay. The best taxes are not visible to voters. But then there's the moral argument that, just as there should be no taxation without representation, there should be no representation without taxation. So it's not easy.In all practical terms, personal income tax is not even implemented outside the West. — Tarskian
What about VAT or sales tax? — Ludwig V
But then there's the moral argument that, just as there should be no taxation without representation, there should be no representation without taxation. — Ludwig V
Income tax was levied in the UK from 1799 to 1802, and again from 1803 to 1816. It was brought back - on a strictly temporary basis - in 1842. Somehow, Parliament has never got round to abolishing it. In the USA personal income tax was imposed from 1872. A new income tax statute in 1894 was effectively struck down by the Supreme Court in 1895. The 16th Amendment reintroduced it on a firm legal basis in 1913. It's always been unpopular and bitter battles were fought over it in the 19th century. I can't quickly find information for other countries.There was no personal income tax anywhere in the world until around the first world war. — Tarskian
That makes sense. You get what you pay for. It will be interesting to see how things develop as their economies develop. Hint - The first welfare state in the world was initiated by Otto von Bismarck in 1883 as a remedial measure to appease the working class and undermine support for his political opponents. For clarity, he was a conservative politician, deeply opposed to socialism.Also, government expenditure as a percentage of GDP is much lower. The government simply spends less. — Tarskian
If one doesn't think it is an illusion, one might pay for it. Or even, perhaps, one might pay for it even it is an illusion because it is a useful illusion.Representation is an illusion anyway. Why pay for an illusion? — Tarskian
Yes. As cities got larger, new forms of social organization had to be developed. You could always go back to hunting and gathering. Not my choice, though.In politics and government the hierarchy is artificial and conventional, not natural. So this type of hierarchy is not inevitable or born of necessity, but the practical and logical consequence of synthetic political organization. — NOS4A2
Yes. As cities got larger, new forms of social organization had to be developed. You could always go back to hunting and gathering. Not my choice, though.
Yes, I expect that there were people who were keen to take advantage. But the question is, could cities have supported that many people in a hunter-gather life-style? It's a complicated question and I think that a definitive answer would be hard to impossible to get. So there may well have been an element of choice. In some way, cities must have offered something that was desirable to everyone. What could it have been. Agriculture arose around the same time, so that might have had something to do with it.They didn’t have to. They just wanted to. — NOS4A2
Do you seriously think that hunter-gather bands were all sweetness and light, with everybody doing exactly what they wanted and no force or compulsion?Now we have to adhere to the hierarchy or risk being punished. — NOS4A2
Yes, I expect that there were people who were keen to take advantage. But the question is, could cities have supported that many people in a hunter-gather life-style? It's a complicated question and I think that a definitive answer would be hard to impossible to get. So there may well have been an element of choice. In some way, cities must have offered something that was desirable to everyone. What could it have been. Agriculture arose around the same time, so that might have had something to do with it.
Do you seriously think that hunter-gather bands were all sweetness and light, with everybody doing exactly what they wanted and no force or compulsion?
Political hierarchies are not natural but artificial and conventional. — NOS4A2
I have never had any security problem related to Bitcoin. — Tarskian
Evidence? Where in history is a human society not hierarchically ordered? I mean how could we even recognise it as a "society"?
It is not as if you could ever need the protection of the state when some gang ties you up in a chair and starts hacking your flesh until you give up the key to your digital wallet. — apokrisis
So sure, it is possible to live the transient life of a digital nomad. But it ain't some kind of alternative politics or superior moral order. — apokrisis
gloat about the naive local women — apokrisis
The average Guatemalan man is 163.4cm (5 feet 4.33 inches) tall. The average Guatemalan woman is 149.38cm (4 feet 10.81cm) tall.
Well, there's no-one forcing hierarchies on us. Unless you are positing that hierarchies are only ever formed because some individual decides to grab power. But, if that's what happens, why is it unnatural?All I’m saying is groups of people living anywhere needn’t impose a hierarchy on others. — NOS4A2
Yes. Many individuals have sought, willingly or not, to choose somewhere else to live. But colonization is over and many find it difficult to find another environment that will accept them. It helps to have a plenty of money. Without that, it is a very hard road even when you find somewhere else to settle.This life strategy acknowledges the very limited or even inexistent ability of the individual to improve his current political environment while emphasizing his very real ability to simply choose another one. — Tarskian
Complaining about things doesn't necessarily mean that you want to move. There are often good reasons to stay put even if there are difficulties to put up with.It is morally superior because it encourages the individual to do something about the problem instead of endlessly complaining about it. — Tarskian
The reality is that there are no gangs that specialize in this crime, simply because other types of crime are much more profitable. — Tarskian
This life strategy acknowledges the very limited or even inexistent ability of the individual to improve his current political environment while emphasizing his very real ability to simply choose another one. — Tarskian
It is morally superior because it encourages the individual to do something about the problem instead of endlessly complaining about it. — Tarskian
Your personal SMV (Sexual Market Value) is very location dependent. ...
Instead of congratulating this man for successfully solving his problem, they will argue that he is taking advantage of these naive Guatemalan women. WTF !? — Tarskian
But colonization is over and many find it difficult to find another environment that will accept them. — Ludwig V
Thanks for this. I'm glad I stuck to what I was sure of. Those countries were, of course, regarded as terra nullius because the societies there were not recognized as such. I'm not sure why. I'm pretty sure there was widespread settlement in Africa, though, as well. I forgot about that for some reason.During colonial times, the colonizing powers strictly prohibited access from the motherland to the colonies, except for some colonies earmarked for settling purposes, such as North America, Australia, and New Zealand. — Tarskian
I'm sure that's true. Less so when there are many immigrants, though. But there is still ambivalence, as one can see in the USA and Europe, especially Britain.In fact, in my experience, every country where there is no serious excess of visitors -- think Barcelona and Venice -- tends to be welcoming, or even very welcoming to foreigners. They mostly treat you as a curiosum. They want to talk with you, go out with you, and so on. — Tarskian
But there is still ambivalence, as one can see in the USA and Europe, especially Britain. — Ludwig V
OK. If you had explained this up front, it would have been clearer what you were saying.That’s the only distinction between “natural” and “artificial” societies I’ve been making. — NOS4A2
Yes, those words do get used in very sloppy ways. It's complicated and there are many different ways to live.A common trick is to conflate a state or nation as a society. I just don’t know how one consider such an aggregate of human beings a “society”, so I’ll stick to the simpler ones. — NOS4A2
Now, there's a tricky question. Let's stipulate that "master" and "slave" are social roles that are backed by law - i.e. backed by coercion. It would not be wrong to say, then, that if those roles are not backed by law, they cannot exist in that society.Remember that Aristotle thought the relationships between master and slave were natural. Do you? — NOS4A2
Certainly, there are such social groups. There are also half-way houses in which volunteers sign up for a common purpose which, for one reason or another depends on cohesion. That requires an acceptance of discipline and usually, in practice, some kind of hierarchy whether formal or informal. (I'll mention these again below.)A natural society, to me, is kinship. It consists of people we know: family, friends, those we trade with, or otherwise deal with on a consistent basis. The activity that operates here is premised on largely social and voluntary cooperation. — NOS4A2
In practice, I think you will find, there always has been some kind of hierarchy and that is suggestive. — Ludwig V
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/these-4-animals-depend-on-leadership-to-survive
At the top of chimpanzee groups stands the alpha. How this male achieves this status can depend on his personality, as the Jane Goodall Institute explains. Some may arrive there due to sheer brutality and force. In short, many dominant chimps behave like “self-interested thugs."
Others can dole out favors – such as grooming – to build alliances with other group members. Once in a position of dominance, the alpha gets prime choice on mating and can halt fighting amongst those further down the social ladder.
How this relates to survival is uncertain, but those in the alpha’s coalition or with higher social rank can benefit. In chimp groups, however, being at the top is precarious, as the alpha must always keep a wary eye on those beneath him.
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