anuran

Comment Threads

• scentofviolets commented on Space Cadets
  Since this thread appears to be winding down: Its been noted more than once that there is nothing here that hasn't already been said many times, and more than a decade ago at that. I have no problem with acknowledging that many of my current opinions were not arrived at independently by basic physics and economics considerations, but were heavily influenced by following the old space newsgroups, sci.space.tech, sci.space.policy, etc. (Many thanks, Henry Spencer!) So I would like to suggest that those not familiar with those discussions have a look through the archives. Unfortunately, access to a lot of those...
• Charlie Stross commented on Space Cadets
  outcast: you're banned. With cause: Failure to read and comply with the moderation policy....
• Charlie Stross commented on Space Cadets
  "Libertarianism is a very flawed ideology that makes certain baseline assumptions about human nature that are, at root, fundamentally wrong." Charles, if this is what you really want to discuss, then lets... No it isn't. Brandon, this is your Yellow Card: raise libertarianism once more on this blog without an explicit invitation and you're banned. General moderation note: Further political discussion on this thread is forbidden. Postings will be deleted, unless they appeal to my capricious and whimsical sense of humour....
• Charlie Stross commented on Space Cadets
  Clarification: This blog is mine. I pay for the hardware it runs on and the bandwidth it consumes. And as you may have noticed, there's no tipjar. I am not the government. I can't censor you or prevent you having your say ... somewhere else, at your own expense. I am not a newspaper. Even if I was, I would not be an American news outlet, with their quaint and frankly bizarre lip-service to impartiality and reporting both sides of the controversy, even where the "controversy" consists of (a) a lone crank ranting about the evils of [abortion/gun control/alcohol/pornography/religion/atheism/green-skinned people/women/insert...
• Charlie Stross commented on Space Cadets
  More or less. (Caveat: my thinking evolves over time, and that bit of "Iron Sunrise" dates to the late 1990s.) Libertarians of the free-market version tend to assume that the free market can handle everything. Whereas, in fact, markets are social institutions embedded within a larger culture and are completely crap at handling externalities. Moreover, the size of the extra-market economy is frequently surprising: IIRC de Soto suggested that roughly 75% of economic interactions globally take place outside of currency-mediated markets, and even if you ignore things like traditional/peasant land arrangements, internal family affairs are usually run on a communal...