Re: e-$ and AP

[The Sheriff <sheriff@speakeasy.org>]

>In a post-AP world (assuming AP systems are up and stably running and
>significantly running), the same law would apply but might express itself
>differently because of the different context.  Crimes commited by someone
>known to the victim will likely be reduced because SOB's reputation will earn
>them a prize on their head by their fed-up neighboors/relatives/relations...
>So will at-large car thiefs, house thiefs, etc. be discouraged because of
>irate victims putting a price on the head of _any_ car thief, house thief,
>etc.  The only type of crime that might increase is the one-shot criminal who
>has a good reputation and will keep behaving after his crime.  But human
>nature tend to be what it is, thus, there is virtually no such thing as a one-
>time criminal.

Here's the one thing that bothers me about AP -- if it's either
legalized or simply becomes commonly exepted, what's to keep it
from becomming a tool to weed out "undesirables?"  Folks with
wierd hair-doos, tattoos, or studs through their woo-woos, in
other words.  Granted, everybody's got a right to have an opinion
about everybody else's lifestyle.  The problem is that if you get
a misfit subculture that is a minority but sticks out like a sore
thumb, what's to keep "fed-up neighbors/relatives" and the like
from putting prices on the heads of such individuals?  Certainly
not majority rule.

The fact of the matter is that if you create a situation like
this where raw democracy (the free market system, if you will)
is allowed to be the deciding factor when it comes to the kind
of people who are allowed to live versus the kind of people who
are shot in the head, you are paving the way to tyranny.  When
the US was created, it was not created to be a Democracy.  It
was created to be a representitive republic, regulated by a set
of laws that required a huge, mass-majority vote to change.  In
essence, the will-of-the-moment isn't supposed to rule here. It
is not the way the US was designed to work.

It was designed that way for a good reason -- to remain resistant
to the tyrrany of majority rule.  I'm not saying it's perfect,
but the ideals that birthed this country work (when applied), and
were, in my not so humble opinion, better thought-out than the
idea of AP.

Just my two bitty bits.

Love, luck, and marijuana lollipops,
The Sheriff. -- ***<REPLY TO: sheriff@speakeasy.org>***
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