Re: the future long term financial apocalypse of the USA

On Tue, 21 May 2024, James Nicoll wrote:

In article <44938613-85d8-1f1d-4bd6-88f47993161e@example.net>,
D  <nospam@example.net> wrote:

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On Mon, 20 May 2024, William Hyde wrote:
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D wrote:
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The only regulation that is necessary for two people to transact is what
they agree upon.

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This being  a science fiction newsgroup, let's consider your decisions when
you are sent back to London in 1870.
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You are hungry, and want some bread.
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Which of the following do you expect to find in your bread?
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(1) Grain
(2) Yeast
(3) Chalk
(4) Alum
(5) Plaster of Paris.
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Do you "agree" with the bakery that you want Alum in your bread? Do you even
know it is there?   In what sense is your consumption of Plaster of Paris an
agreed upon transaction if you have no way of knowing it is there?
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Full of nourishing wheat with extra chalk, you  rent a room in a new

building

with cheerful bright wallpaper.
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How much Arsenic is in the room?
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(1) Trace amounts
(2) One pound
(3) Two pounds
(4) Three pounds
(5) Four pounds
(6) Five pounds.
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At what point did you agree to  rent a room infused with 3.7 pounds of
Arsenic? For that matter, did your landlord agree to poison his tenants when
he bought the wallpaper, or did the manufacturer keep silent on just

how much

Arsenic was needed for those vivid colours?
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William Hyde

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Needless to say, it is not very good business strategy to poison your
customers. I think that is all I will say about this thought experiment.
If you _really_ would like to seriously explore the why and how, I can
recommend excellent books.
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And yet, not only did such things frequently happen in the past, they
happen now. It's almost as though your model does not actually reflect
reality.

Governments have killed more people that private businesses so I think from that angle, we can say for sure that businesses are safer and less likely to kill their customers.