Epistemic status: don’t know enough in this domain to tell if I’m being stupid, so probably I am
There are a few ideas I keep coming back to when thinking about what legal system my April Fool’s alt-world of rationalists would have. One is The Stand On Your Own Two Feet Clause (alternatively I might call it the paleo exemption)
You can achieve massive improvements in safety and equality through industry regulation. Industry scales; change the industry and the effects scale with it. You probably know that trouble comes when industry influences the shape of regulation to benefit themselves at the cost of potential competitors. But while everyone’s keeping a hawk’s eye on budding monopolies, there’s a worse issue that could creep up on you.
What if it’s not just the market being captured? What is an individual supposed to do when solving their problems on their own initiative becomes legally or practically unfeasible?
Regulations should not apply to an individual doing things for themselves, by themselves or with some basic assistance.
Maybe that seems redundant. For the most part, government imposed standards don’t usually apply to personal and non-commercial use cases anyways. You don’t fine the old lady down the road for giving away pies without a food handler’s permit. It’s simply not practical to enforce on the small scale.
Can you build a simple hut to live in with your own two hands, or do you effectively have to hire a specialist to build something to code? Can you in fact make your own medication, if you have access to raw ingredients and a simple enough recipe, or do you have to get it from a pre-approved lab? Can you do medical procedures to yourself? Can you legally represent yourself?
These may not be good plans, and you’d still liable to causing harm to other people through negligence or illegally dumping contaminants into the air/water/soil, but I really think having the option to self-determine outside of the market matters. A lot. And I think it needs more protection than I’m aware of it having.
Epistemic status: don’t know enough in this domain to tell if I’m being stupid, so probably I am
There are a few ideas I keep coming back to when thinking about what legal system my April Fool’s alt-world of rationalists would have. One is The Stand On Your Own Two Feet Clause (alternatively I might call it the paleo exemption)
You can achieve massive improvements in safety and equality through industry regulation. Industry scales; change the industry and the effects scale with it. You probably know that trouble comes when industry influences the shape of regulation to benefit themselves at the cost of potential competitors. But while everyone’s keeping a hawk’s eye on budding monopolies, there’s a worse issue that could creep up on you.
What if it’s not just the market being captured? What is an individual supposed to do when solving their problems on their own initiative becomes legally or practically unfeasible?
Regulations should not apply to an individual doing things for themselves, by themselves or with some basic assistance.
Maybe that seems redundant. For the most part, government imposed standards don’t usually apply to personal and non-commercial use cases anyways. You don’t fine the old lady down the road for giving away pies without a food handler’s permit. It’s simply not practical to enforce on the small scale.
Can you build a simple hut to live in with your own two hands, or do you effectively have to hire a specialist to build something to code? Can you in fact make your own medication, if you have access to raw ingredients and a simple enough recipe, or do you have to get it from a pre-approved lab? Can you do medical procedures to yourself? Can you legally represent yourself?
These may not be good plans, and you’d still liable to causing harm to other people through negligence or illegally dumping contaminants into the air/water/soil, but I really think having the option to self-determine outside of the market matters. A lot. And I think it needs more protection than I’m aware of it having.