From: lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich)
Subject: Re: "New Right" Libertarians?
Organization: LLNL
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 19:42:29 GMT

In article <robc.18.0@wicat> robc@wicat (Rob Carlson) writes:
>In article <1993Jan11.065529.27080@s1.gov> lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich) writes:
: From: lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich)
: Subject: Re: "New Right" Libertarians?
: Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 06:55:29 GMT
: In article <robc.16.0@wicat> robc@wicat (Rob Carlson) writes:
: >In article <C0nIDp.oy@dscomsa.desy.de> hallam@zeus02.desy.de (Phill Hallam-Baker) writes:
: : The crux of the matter is "freely contract". If there is only one employer in an
: : area and the only alternative to taking employment from them is to starve then
: : does that consititute a contract "freely entered into". 
: >
: >	If this situation was plausible, I might agree with you. But it 
: >is impossible in all but one circumstance.
: 
: 	Counterexamples coming up...
: 
: >	How could there be only one employer in the area? Every person in 
: >the area is potentially an employer. They all need certain services and will 
: >hire others to do them. Companies don't grow on trees, they are created when 
: >a person is willing to pay another person for some good or service. You are 
: >always free to start your own company.

: 	OK, let's see you:

: 	Start your own airline. You must buy airplanes, hire a lot of
: pilots and flight attendants and reservations staff and buy space at
: airports to park your planes. You must also print or contract out the
: printing of airline schedules, among numerous other things. And what
: if the other airline companies don't want your competition...

>	Or you could start one of these companies:
>	1. A taxi service to shuttle people to and from the airport.

	You have to buy the taxi(s), and hire drivers if you want to
have more than one taxi in service.

>	2. A parking lot where people could store their cars while they are 
>	   away.

	To build one, you need to flatten some land and pour asphalt
over it and paint marking lines on it. Not a one-person job.

>	3. A security business that would protect people's homes while they 
>	   are using the airport.

	You need a warehouse to store the security devices and
installers to go out to people's homes.

>	4. A programming business that provides scheduling info for the 
>	    airline.

	Need a personal computer with a hard disk, need to do
marketing studies, and so forth to determine where people travel.

	These examples still have something in common: startup costs,
though not as great as for a whole airline. But their smaller size
makes competition easier, as I will concede. Unless (say) one taxi
company hires goons to keep competing taxis out of the airport
terminal.

> [ More extreme examples deleted]

: 	These examples can readily be multiplied; I have to question
: the seriousness of anyone who claims it's simple to start a business,
: especially a big one.

>	You are limiting the possiblities unnecessarily. The companies you 
>can start are limited only by your creativity. There are many businesses 
>that can be started with NO money. How about a window washing business?
>Every month or so, a guy comes by my neighborhood offering to do odd jobs. 
>This cost him nothing but his effort.

	I'm not complaining about any such thing. But can one person
alone with the typical wealth of a middle-class person start some big
operation all alone?

: >	The only situation under which your scenario could be achieved is by 
: >force. Like some government making a law that says you may only work for 
: >that employer and cannot form any business of your own.

: 	Or when other companies lock you out, for example.

>	It will take force (i.e. government) for them to accomplish this.

	So capitalists are good, honorable people who NEVER use
underhanded tactics against each other? Just consider criminal gangs,
who are often shamelessly capitalistic in their illegal enterprises.
And consider what they do to rival gangs.

	Even "legitimate" companies have been known to use underhanded
tactics. Back at the turn of the century or so, there was once a case
of two companies building railroad lines in the same area. One was
farther up a hill that the other, and let rocks come rolling down on
the other's roadbed.



: 	Ultra-capitalist romanticism has a certain entertainment
: value, I must concede.
>
>
>	Anything short of a free market is just the 'Haves' using force  to 
>keep the 'Have-nots' in their place.
>
: 
: -- 
: /Loren Petrich, the Master Blaster
: /lip@s1.gov
>
>Rob Carlson 
>( still looking for a scenario under which there can be only one employer.)


-- 
/Loren Petrich, the Master Blaster
/lip@s1.gov
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