The basic hypothesis between the sovereign individual is NOT that property rights are fundamental, it’s that incentives matter. And that these incentives are about to shift due to the rise of technology. Not sure what’s flawed about this argument.
Discussion
I never said that Davidson and Rees-Moog advance the praxeological justification. I said the best attempts to justify that kind of thinking do. In fact, that the Sovereign Individual is silent on its normative foundations, and simply tracks a technological determinist argument — that to your point, the incentives leading intractably towards a certain outcome — is the entire basis for my charge of epistemic authoritarianism.
An example of what I’m saying would be the notion that say “the welfare state won’t be possible, even if people want it” in the future that is laid out. That’s an implicit normative constraint that takes arguments about a common good that isn’t merely a feature of revealed market preferences, betrays a very extreme right-libertarian view at the bottom of the whole thesis.
So I apologize if I wasn’t clear enough in the following paragraph to separate the critique of the argument from the praxeological argument for the normative foundations of such a view. But I’d argue, if anything, I am trying to bring my critique against the strongest form of the argument. Which I don’t think Davidson and Rees-Mogg make, by the way.
*Rees-Mogg. My bad.
I actually got distracted and didn't proof read that. Here is an edited version of what I just said for clairty:
I never said that Davidson and Rees-Mogg advance the praxeological justification. I said the best attempts to justify that kind of thinking do. In fact, that the Sovereign Individual is silent on its normative foundations, and simply tracks a technological determinist argument — that to your point, the incentives leading intractably towards a certain outcome — is the entire basis for my charge of epistemic authoritarianism.
An example of what I’m saying would be the notion that say “the welfare state won’t be possible, even if people want it” in the future that is an intractible logical consequence of the incentive structures. That’s an implicit normative constraint that takes arguments about a common good that isn’t merely a feature of revealed market preferences off the table. Which, I say betrays a very extreme right-libertarian view at the bottom of the whole thesis.
So I apologize if I wasn’t clear enough in the following paragraph to separate the critique of the argument from the praxeological argument for the normative foundations of such a view. But I’d argue, if anything, I am trying to bring my critique against the strongest form of the argument. Which I don’t think Davidson and Rees-Mogg make, by the way.
Property rights enforced by technological advances allow for crowd funding & voluntary contributions to anything that people want.
What is likely to become more difficult is centralized efforts to fund causes & special interests via theft & against people's wishes.
You haven't really addressed anything I've said here, so not such how to respond. You've merely just restated the case I'm criticizing and not attending to my arguments at all.
I mean, if you support funding things by force, then that makes YOU the authoritarian.
The idea that we are moving to a world where people ultimately have more control over their own resources seems fairly self evident given Bitcoin, Nostr, Keet, 3d printing, & open source AI tools. The system that is eroding property rights is doing so at an accelerated pace, such that it is clearly destroying itself (likely driving people to our solutions). And destruction of property rights leading to economic collapse isn't exactly a new pattern.
How are you going to force me to contribute to some govt program I don't support if I can secure my own money, transact without permission, & privately engage in trade bith in person & on networks like Nostr & Keet?
Basically you're just saying the anarcho-capitalist argument is objectively objectively morally correct. All matters of distribution are just irrelevant because property rights must be absolute. Any claim on the public good is authoritarian. Naturally, I think this stance is both unconvincing and smug.
What portion of what someone else earns or trades to acquire should you or anyone elss get a say over?
Greed is the desire for things unearned with no regard for those who bear the cost of having those desires satisfied.
I think anyone who wants to initiate threats & coercion to acquire or reallocate resources (no matter how greatly they out number their victims) are morally in the wrong. Rather than calling me "smug," maybe explain how do you go about justifying your initiation of violence?
If the greater good is all that matters, then any healthy individual like you or me could justifiably be sacrificed to provide the body parts needed to save multiple others.
The individual is the smallest minority, the prime unit, if we don't protect individual rights, then we all become slaves to imaginary abstractions. Groups & collectives aren't real, they don't speak, they don't have desires, they are just our mental shortcuts for lots of individuals.
Claiming other people's time and energy should be distributed to lazy and skilless individuals because reasons is also unconvincing. This is why governments require the existence of a police force to enforce tax collection. Pretending this practice somehow furthers the public good can naturally be considered as smug.
If prosperity is the end goal one has to aknowledge the major benefits of the free market in providing it.