Monday 28 May 2012

Fptp and frb should be against the constitution

If there is a government it should not practice either fptp or frb.

Banks are rich because they can print money

Fractional reserve banking means that there is a difference between narrow money and broad money. Unless this situation persists (which we will come back to) then that leaves one of two options available: we can either i) Monetise all the credit leading to an inflation of narrow money so that existing broad money becomes narrow money... or ii) Let the banks fail and experience a financial crash. Since neither of these is palatable we tend to go on in a neutral position with both narrow and broad money (and fractional reserve banking) existing.

Fractional reserve banking exists if there is a difference between narrow and broad money... if such a thing as broad money exists.

Since fractional reserve banking (frb) persists and broad money exists then banks are able to issue something of value which normal companies are not able to do. This situation is equivalent to banks being able to print government narrow money unless a crash is possible. If a crash is not possible then banks effectively print money. Even if a banking crash is possible being able to print broad money in the short term is very similar to being able to print cash... even if eventually there will be a crash. It's not very much preferable to the rest of us for banks to only be able to print broad money (and not cash) than for them to be able to print cash. If banks could print cash it would not be much worse.

Fractional reserve banking would only be different from outright counterfeiting if we can expect there to be a banking crash... otherwise it is equivalent. Frb is counterfeiting unless there will be a bank run and a crash of the financial system. If there is not a crash it is counterfeiting.

This means that due to their privileged legal status banks (together with their customers) are able to accrue wealth merely by increasing the money supply... rather than by conventional free-market means. If a fiat currency is imposed on the population then anyone who can print that currency will find it easy to acquire wealth. Banks are not poor because they can print money. Banks are rich because of deposit insurance.

Wealth is finite on a finite planet so it is a problem if banks can print their own money because they will be able to control an excess of the scarce resources. It is a problem if agents within the economy can print money... counterfeiting is a problem because it is not fair on the rest of the population. Counterfeiting is unfair.

Saturday 26 May 2012

There is no such thing as tactical voting

Tactical voting is a myth. People who claim to vote tactically (using fptp) merely to reject the other mainstream fptp party are still endorsing a mainstream party so this is not tactical voting. We are not voting tactically if we vote for a mainstream party. We only vote tactically if we reject the mainstream parties. And if it is possible to reject the mainstream parties (as with pr) then we are not voting tactically... either.

Friday 25 May 2012

Democracy does not exist

There is nothing wrong with democracy

...but fptp is not democracy.

Democracy is choice and proportionality

Democracy is concerned with choice. If there is no choice there is no democracy. First past the post removes choice because only one of the established parties has a chance of power. There is no point voting for one of the smaller parties because unless a sufficient number of people do so your vote will be wasted. We know that there are established parties on the right and on the left and so there is no point considering anyone else. We waste our vote if we do not vote for an establishment candidate. Because all the power is given to the single winning candidate votes for smaller parties get no recognition... and are a wasted vote. It is only worthwhile to vote for a candidate who has a chance of (outright) success. Because of this dynamic our choice of candidates is reduced to just two... one on either side of the left-right axis. Fptp reduces choice by not giving minority candidates representation. Failure to accommodate minority candidates reduces choice and since democracy is concerned with choice this reduces the effectiveness of fptp as a democratic system. Failure to be proportional reduces choice and is not democratic... to be democratic a voting system must be proportional. If there is not proportionality there is not choice and if there is not choice there is not democracy. Democracy is choice and without proportionality there is no choice. Proportionality is choice. Without choice there is no democracy.

Thursday 24 May 2012

Pr elections are less invalid than fptp elections

The government is not valid but at least if we introduced a proportional system of voting it would be less invalid. The government would be less invalid with pr. Fptp makes the government even more invalid than it otherwise would be.

It is impossible to impose pr on the government

Guilt is a truth claim. When a jury is asked to find a defendant guilty or not guilty they are being asked if they concur with the claims made by the case for the prosecution. To accuse someone of a crime is to make a claim... which the defendant will seek to refute. If nothing is true then no one is guilty and there are no criminals and no crimes.

We can think of the government as a criminal but to gain a prosecution against it we must show that a crime has been committed and if there are no crimes then the government is always innocent. It is for this reason that the government is resistant to proportional representation. We can view pr as the sentence for a guilty government. But if the government is innocent there is no reason to impose pr. Pr is a sentence imposed on a guilty government.

The government can always deny its guilt.

If government is bad (guilty) then we would want pr... if not then we can stick with fptp. Trying to impose pr on the government is like trying to impose a sentence on a criminal... impossible.

The paradox of democracy

The paradox of democracy is that without altering the system to accommodate proportional representation we end up with a two-party system dominated by the centre-left party. Without gerrymandering the system we end up with communism. To be free we need to tweak the system to make sure minorities are represented... to be free we need to cheat.

Democracy represents minorities

First past the post is not democratic because it does not give representation to minorities. Minorities are represented in a democratic system.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Only the government can fix the voting system

Only the government has the power to do anything about it so unless you are taking the role of the government in your discussions your opinion is not very valid. If you are arguing against someone who is arguing from the perspective of the government then (assuming you are pro-pr) there is still no point arguing. If they want to advance pr then you have no quarrel... if they want to retain fptp there is not much you can do about a null position. To argue against the government (against fptp) is to argue against inaction which is impossible... we can only ague against action.

The only person who can argue with the government over pr and fptp is an fptp-advocate who opposes change to pr.

Tuesday 22 May 2012

There is no difference between the state and fptp

Proportional representation is worse for socialism

We have two sources of aggression to fear that from individual criminals in society (crime) and that from government... which is known as socialism. Whilst pr and fptp might both be equally effective at preventing crime perpetrated by individuals (against the state) they are not equally effective against aggression committed by the state. It is much easier for the state to be aggressive with fptp. And much more difficult under pr.

First past the post was a mistake

First past the post forces economic liberals to vote for the monopolistic centre-right party... to oppose socialism. Under fptp there is no other option to oppose socialism than the leading centre-right party. This means that economic liberals have no choice but to vote for a monopolistic party of the right. This is a problem if the centre-right party concerned becomes offensive and then there is no reasonable choice to make.

With pr third party votes are bad for socialists

The problem with fptp is that there is only one choice to (tactically) keep out the main centre-left socialist party. With fptp there is a monopoly on anti-socialism. With pr there are many different parties which oppose socialism. In fact under pr all third party votes are bad for the leading socialist party. With fptp third party votes do not hurt the socialists and so we can say that they fall in favour of the socialist party. With fptp third party votes are favourable to the socialists whereas with pr third party votes are bad for the socialists.

There is nothing to fear from freedom

In a majoritarian election it is easy for small groups to establish themselves as powerful political parties because only a small number of people need to collaborate to get elected. (At least initially.) In the broadest sense of a democracy we can imagine the most liberal type of voting to be voting for ourselves... as we do in a referendum. All other types of voting are representative voting where we are not voting for ourselves but instead having someone else vote on our behalf. If everyone votes for themselves and a few people choose a leader to vote for then (even if that number is relatively small) their leader will get elected and control the entirety of the power. In that sense fptp is good for collectivism and collectivists. With pr we can vote for ourselves and still have representation in parliament. There is nothing to fear from pr unless there is something to fear from freedom.

Monday 21 May 2012

There is something wrong with fptp

If democracy is mob rule then fptp is worse than democracy because with fptp it is possible to rule with very much fewer than half of the vote. Fptp is worse than democracy it is rule by minority. There is no post. At least with other forms of (preference) voting the winning candidate requires support from most of the electorate. If we do not have power allocated in proportion to votes (pr) then we have minority rule... fptp is government by the least small minority. The least small minority takes (is given) all the power. There is no reason not to allocate representation according to votes... there is no reason to give it all to the party which comes first. There is no reason to have fptp. It is more natural to allocate power equally according to the number of votes received. People who dislike fptp have a justified complaint.

Proportional rep. is less democratic than fptp

Democracy is bad because it means being exposed to the whims of the electorate. Proportional representation is better than fptp because it offers less democracy to the electorate. Pr is less democratic than fptp because it offers more defence to the voters. Democracy is not being able to do anything about aggression.

Proportional representation is not government

The difference between pr and fptp is that with pr we are all represented with fptp only one person is represented. Fptp is inherently 'presidential' whereas with pr we all have power. Only one person can win with fptp. The party whips control the parties themselves so that within each party there is only one leader. With pr the leader of a political party has much less power... in effect there aren't really any political parties. Fptp is analogous to a mayoral election the MPs are redundant if they are not the leader of the party... only the leader counts. With pr there is no leader and everyone (including the voters) may consider themselves to be a part of the government. Pr is democracy whereas fptp is government by a chosen leader. With fptp people choose their leader with pr we are the leaders of ourselves.

Without tactical voting democracy is meaningless

The purpose of democracy is tactical voting... if we did not have any objection to the leader then we would have no need for democracy. We need democracy if the leader is unpopular and so it is the tactical elements of democracy which are important.

Prop. rep. is good for tactical voting

Proportional representation enhances the ability to vote tactically.

Prop. rep. is the best form of democracy

If democracy is aggressive it is illegitimate but we can also think of democracy as a defensive institution which serves to defend the community from aggressive individuals. Democracy can be a deterrent to criminals. If we think of democracy in this (defensive) way then to serve as a politician would be a great honour and for this reason we would want to make sure those elected are subject to the greatest scrutiny possible. If democracy is defensive then we would want it to be efficient and the most efficient form of democracy is pr.

Democracy doesn't exist as a concept

Democracy is the (false) concept that popular people have the right to rule over other people but this right does not exist. Democracy does not exist. We have no right to rule over other people because we own no one even minorities. Minorities are not owned and there is no democracy.

Sunday 20 May 2012

All forms of democracy are invalid

All forms of democracy are invalid but the least invalid form of democracy is proportional representation.

Courageous people don't like first past the post

To advocate fptp is cowardice because it is only someone who defends the government who would prefer fptp. To advocate fptp is to defend the government from democratic attack but the government is not weak it is powerful so by advocating fptp we are defending the powerful from the weak. The government is powerful and fptp makes it even more powerful. The government would be weaker under pr. Only a coward would defend the government.

The antithesis of government is pr

If there is a government then the most freedom will be provided with pr... because this leads to the least government. It is not a contradiction for the government to retain fptp because fptp makes it difficult for people to diminish the size of the government. It makes sense for the government to prefer fptp. The government will never advocate pr anyone who advocates pr is not the government.

Liberals do not fear proportionality

Proportional representation is not damaging to liberals. Tactical voting is the kind of voting whereby people tolerate one form of government tyranny to avoid another. This means that (perhaps) liberals will tolerate some form of social authoritarianism to avoid economic authoritarianism or vice versa. If a political party is in no way authoritarian then it will have nothing to fear from pr only authoritarians benefit from tactical voting (votes which under pr would go elsewhere). Liberals are trapped under fptp into voting for some form of authoritarianism to avoid another... if they vote tactically and do not waste their vote. If pr is damaging to a political party in receipt of tactical votes this demonstrates that they are not liberals. Liberals do not receive tactical votes because they are not offensive (authoritarian) to anyone... and so they would have nothing to fear from pr. Only those parties which receive tactical votes would have something to fear from pr.

First past the post is (still) government

No anarchist is in support of fptp because it removes the ability of the rest of the mafia to challenge the main parties. Anarchy is liberal which means that we can challenge the claims made by authoritarians. It is amusing to think that conservatives opposed to pr consider themselves proponents of liberty when pr is liberty. There is no reason to be opposed to pr and liberalism. To be an opponent of pr is to be an anti-capitalist since pr promotes choice... even within the mafia. Liberalism is not bad for the mafia just as it is not bad for the rest of us... we have nothing to fear from a liberalised (pr) government it just makes it easier to remove. It is better to be given the vote than to be denied it and fptp is still (a form of) democracy. The government (mafia) is no more legitimised and therefore no more powerful under pr than under fptp. Pr does nothing to legitimise the government there is a government even when we have fptp so we might as well have pr. Fptp is not anarchy. First past the post is only good for those parts of the mafia resistant to liberalism. Pr is good news for the mafia because it ends the mafia.

Liberalism is the only valid ideology

Liberalism and anti-collectivism is the only valid political ideology. If conservatism is not liberalism for reasons of imposing on either social or economic freedoms then it is not a valid ideology. Freedom is the only rational ambition politically. Anything opposed to liberalism is collectivism and communism.

Proportional representation is anarchy

Given that proportional representation makes the mafia more liberal we can say that pr destroys the mafia (which is the government) and so pr is anarchy.

The only reason to support fptp is collectivism

Fptp is good for collectivists within the mafia

If the mafia hold elections it is better that they are pr elections than fptp elections. Being in favour of pr doesn't mean you are supportive of (and recognise) the government... even if you are an anarchist it is possible to prefer pr. A fptp government is more dangerous than a pr government. If there is dissent within the mafia then pr enables this to be exposed and the mafia cannot progress until it is dealt with.

Fptp enables the mafia to stifle and ignore dissent within it.

Friday 18 May 2012

Proportionality is democracy and democracy is bad

Democracy does not alter the legitimacy of the government and so first past the post is preferable to proportional representation.

Only anarchists support first past the post

Proportional representation prevents socialism

Socialism is inevitable under a fptp system. The only way to prevent socialism in a democracy is proportional representation. If we have democracy then the best way to prevent socialism is pr. If there is not democracy then tyrants will be unopposed... if we do not want either tyranny or socialism then pr is the best situation. Pr is the best form of democracy at preventing socialism. Fptp is not very good at preventing socialism.

Democracy isn't socialist

Tyrants will always need to be convinced that other people want to be left alone and the only way to convince them effectively is with democracy. Democracy is the only effective remedy against tyrants and for that reason it is inevitable.

Equal (proportional) representation is conservative

First past the post is not conservative. To be conservative a voting system must be inherently defensive because to be conservative is to be defensive against tyranny. Because democracy is defensive then the most democratic system is the most defensive... and hence the most conservative. Democracy is conservative.

First past the post is good for bad people

First past the post is good for tyrants because it is less democratic than pr. Democracy is a civilising institution which protects the population form tyranny. Democracy is defensive and so more democracy is more defensive. If we want to be defended from tyrants then we would want as much democracy as possible and we would want to have pr.

Proportional representation is the best form of democracy because it is the most effective at removing tyrants. Those who seek to retain fptp are protecting tyrants.

Good people like democracy and so good people would like to have more of it where that is possible.

Thursday 17 May 2012

First past the post is anarchy

To be a government is to be elected proportionally

To be a government an institution must be elected by proportional representation. If an institution is elected via fptp or some other non-proportional system then it cannot call itself a government... for it is not one. Governments must be (are) elected proportionately.

Courts should be elected proportionately

Government is not bad and so proportional representation should be advocated. Anarchy is not preferable to government because government is defensive (and conservative) in a manner similar to the courts. We can think of the government as an extension of the courts system... and it is uncontroversial to say the courts offer protection from tyranny. Most anarchists still advocate some system of courts but the government itself is a court controlled by the electorate. To be supportive of the courts is not to be an anarchist. Because anarchy is not a robust position we can say that government is defensive and good and that pr is good. If pr is not good then government is not good but government is an extension of the courts (and is defensive) so it is a contradiction to say that pr is not good. To be opposed to pr is to be opposed to justice and the courts because government is the courts.

Fptp is only partial representation not complete

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Not one of the main (fptp) parties is perfect

Fptp is good for the left-wing half of the fptp system

All forms of democracy are conservative reactions to the desired tyranny of an authoritarian group (democracy is defensive). Democracy is always a defensive force for good and so we should extend its reach wherever possible. Democracy is conservative. If there are elections we can assume people do not want socialism they want to be left alone to the greatest extent possible. They only want socialism when they think no other option is possible or reasonable. People do not want to be looked after by the government.

People do not want socialism (when they can see it clearly for what it is) but even if that is what they want fptp offers no protection from it because socialist votes will already be lost to the socialist party. If one of the main parties is socialist fptp offers no protection. Both fptp parties would need to reject socialism for fptp to be an effective defence against it.

Fptp is a protection against socialism only if i) the electorate want socialism and ii) both of the leading parties are against socialism. If one or both of these conditions is false then fptp is detrimental to freedom. For fptp to be liberal would require both of the main parties to be to the right of the electorate. If only one of the main parties is to the right of the electorate this is not enough because the (presumed) left-wing electorate would be comfortable voting for the other party.

To be an advocate of fptp (and a libertarian) assumes both of the main parties are liberal and to the 'right' of the electorate.

First past the post is not a problem for and is tolerated by liberal people who think (not just one but) both of the main parties are anti-socialists (to the right of the electorate).

Tuesday 15 May 2012

First past the post duopolies are left wing

The problem with fptp is that honest non-tactical votes often allow the establishment parties to get in. This might not be too much of a problem if the two establishment parties are equal but opposite... (if the left-right dichotomy holds up) but in reality there is a difference between left and right which is often missed: The right-wing party in a fptp duopoly is a defensive reaction to the nature of majoritarian elections. Typically liberals and libertarians would choose disparate individual small parties to vote for. The emergence of a singular 'establishment' party is a result of fptp psephology.

This may then lead to even more collectivism on the left and a similar monolithic political party will form in opposition.

Freedom results from the negation of tyranny... good things happen when crime and mischief is removed... we get freedom not from the presence of the centre-right party but from the absence of the centre-left party which means the left-right paradigm which emerges under fptp is not benign. It would be better to have a plethora of small parties which each could get representation.

The fptp parties reject freedom

The fptp parties are anti-democracy and therefore anti-freedom. Freedom is synonymous with democracy and so when the main pro-fptp parties reject electoral reform they are being anti-freedom and pro-tyranny. Fptp is a form of tyranny.

The government is unpopular because of fptp

The government is unpopular because it does not accommodate proportional representation.

There is no greater freedom than democracy

With a proportional voting system we can guarantee freedom and fair outcomes. With fptp there is a risk that outcomes are not free and proportional... this risk is eliminated under pr.

Fair votes eliminates the risk of not-proportional (not free) outcomes.

We know that we want proportional outcomes (we are not socialists) because otherwise we would not have a democratic system. It would not be difficult to guarantee proportionality (the absence of socialism) rather than to merely hope for it... so we might as well go to the small trouble of arranging proportional elections. A proportional system guarantees the absence of socialism whereas fptp only offers the chance of its absence. Proportionality guarantees freedom (from government) but fptp doesn't (and cannot) make this guarantee.

Democracy is the best way to remove socialism

There is nothing wrong with democracy

It is well understood that if liberals do not vote tactically in a majoritarian election then this is helpful to the collectivist parties and voters of the left. A proportional system does not require tactical voting so it removes this inherent democratic advantage (which is present in a majoritarian system) from the collectivists. If a system is not proportional there is no way (for liberals) to oppose collectivists without voting tactically... which many liberals are reluctant to do. Under a majoritarian system if liberals do not vote tactically (which is to say defensively) then the 'left' will win. Majoritarian systems are not helpful to liberals because of the requirement to vote tactically... a defensive vote must be a tactical vote with fptp whereas with pr any vote (even a non-tactical honest vote) is defensive. Not only tactical votes are defensive with pr all of them are. With fptp only tactical votes are defensive against tyranny.

Fptp requires people to vote tactically which is not a requirement of pr where all votes are automatically (naturally) defensive and so there is no need for people to vote tactically.

First past the post is bad for the country... unless one of the two main parties is liberal

Since neither one of the two mainstream fptp parties is liberal (or libertarian) then we can deduce that fptp is detrimental to the country. If one of the two main parties is respectful of individual rights then fptp is not a threat to the country but since that is not the case then we can say fptp is objectively bad and unpatriotic. If we accept 'unpatriotic' to mean bad for the country overall then fptp is unpatriotic unless one of the two main parties is liberal. Since neither one of the main parties is liberal then fptp (and supporters of fptp) is (are) unpatriotic.

Monday 14 May 2012

First past the post restricts access to government

First past the post is not freedom because we have to choose a government formed by one of the mainstream parties... with pr we can choose anyone. Freedom means not being excluded by (being allowed into government by) the two main parties which have disproportionate and illegitimate power. With pr the main parties cannot exclude voters and are forced to share power.

A proportional system allows everyone into government and is more competitive for those parties and individuals who seek office. Proportional voting opens up government to the voters.

Democracy is not government

Democracy is not a form of government it is the reverse... it is a form of protection against government. We use democracy to protect ourselves from tyranny and all forms of tyranny have the properties of government. Democracy is a defensive protection from (the prevention of) government it is not government itself.

"Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Winston Churchill

Democracy can never be said to be aggressive since it is only a means to sanction force not the application of force itself.

Fractional reserve banking does not exist

The implicit assertion made by the banks and the government (even if they do not know they are making it) is that bank liabilities are shared with the population. This is not true... bank liabilities belong to no one else but the banks.

Sunday 13 May 2012

Fractional reserve banking is socialism

The forced sharing of liabilities is collectivism and socialism. It is not capitalism if taxpayers are forced to bail out the liabilities of private firms. The definition of public sector is that the liabilities are public... as with fractional reserve banks which cannot exist without taxpayer support. (Something with private liabilities which can fail is a private firm.)

If banks cannot fail they are part of the government.

Frb enables borrowers to steal from the population

The problem with fractional reserve banking is that when a loan is taken out from a bank this results in inflation which is a form of theft. Purchasing power is extracted from the rest of the money supply by a combination of the bank and the borrowing customer. Together they have stolen from the economy by (means of) inflation. It is theft not only by the bank but by a combination of the bank and the customer. In fact it is the customer who plays the dominant role since the bank itself only collects the interest. Borrowers steal from the rest of the population with the help of the bank.

Printing money is not harmful

The government forces us to use currencies which can be printed by the banks. This means we have no means to avoid the seigniorage (inflation) caused by fractional reserve banking. Taxation is why we cannot escape the banks. Given that we have taxation (and the government is unwilling to repeal it) then the problems caused by the banks are merely the problems of counterfeiting. Banks do no more harm than counterfeiters... the real problem is that we are forced to use fiat currencies. Fractional reserve banking is just counterfeiting and does not initiate force. As much as we might expect to find an ethical problem with frb there is none... the fact of our being forced to tolerate it is not the fault of the banks it is the fault of the government. Banking is not a problem of the private sector the roots of the problem lie with the government and prohibition of counterfeiting in general.

PR removes power from the political parties

Democracy is a civilising influence

Anarchy (specifically a lack of democracy) would not bring safety if you are not safe under democracy. If what you want to do is rejected by the majority of people we can assume that what you want to do is a bad idea. Democracy is not offensive to good ideas. Democracy is not always offensive to bad ideas it is true but that is not the same problem. Just because democracy can tolerate some bad ideas doesn't mean it prevents freedom. Freedom is a good idea that is prevented by people not democracy. If democracy prevents freedom then people without democracy would be just as efficient at opposing it... perhaps more so.

Saturday 12 May 2012

Those who oppose justifiable reform are insane

If to deny a true claim is insanity then those who oppose reform of the voting system and the banking system are insane.

The right might not realise why they are disliked

We cannot expect the right to realise that fptp is a problem. The left enjoy first past the post because they collect extra votes from people who are dissatisfied with the right for reasons other than economics. If we can characterise the right as a combination of economic liberalism and social prejudice then the right will lose economically liberal votes because of their social policies. This will be advantageous to the left and we can understand why the left would support (or not seek to replace) first past the post. Even though the left support fptp the right do not oppose it because they cannot see a problem and deduce that the population are more to the left (economically) than in reality. They ascribe all votes for the left to economic collectivism and none to being appalled at the social prejudices of the right. The right assume (wrongly) that all votes for the left are to do with economics but in reality the right lose many votes for their social policies. Because the right do not realise why they are unpopular... assuming others share their prejudices... they see no reason to be against fptp. The right are fine with fptp because they are unaware of their prejudices and so do not realise it is for these reasons that they are losing votes to the left. Or if they are aware of this dynamic we could say that the right prefer to keep their socially oppressive policies than oppose economic collectivism. Either they are unaware of their prejudices or would prefer to keep their prejudices even if losing them could achieve economic liberalism. They care more about oppressing innocent people than liberating themselves (assuming they are aware of their prejudices).

The right might not realise why they are disliked but if they do they are hurting themselves merely (because they want) to hurt others.

Democracy is bad for collectivists

A proportional voting system leads to more variety and more liberalism. Collectivists dominate parliament because the voting system does not offer the electorate a means to get rid of them. With pr the population could remove the collectivists from parliament.

Friday 11 May 2012

Communism is not impossible

Communism is not impossible if we leave each other alone.

Individual communism enables people to think and behave in a collectivist way... which is more mentally healthy and yet causes no harm. The harm caused by communism is due to its collectivist ideology. If we can be socially-minded individually then we will do no harm. We can have a kind of communism which does not punish people for failing to serve the state. It is a kind of communism by choice... a stateless communism.

Thursday 10 May 2012

Why we still have frb and first past the post

Fractional reserve banking and fptp are resistant to change because they require a positive campaign to get rid of them... rather than a destructive campaign like getting rid of taxes.

To campaign against frb is in fact to campaign in favour of full-reserve fiat money. Just like a campaign against fptp is actually a campaign for proportional representation. And because these are positive campaigns they are not very successful even though they would lead to liberal outcomes.

Fractional reserve banking is not the only option

Fractional reserve banking is not the only type of banking possible there are other means by which banking can be provided.

Property rights are a matter of opinion

There is no point arguing against communism because the proponent doesn't claim they are not a communist. (They do not deny being a communist.) If someone who is a communist doesn't find their collectivist ideology to be a contradiction then you cannot win the argument.

Definition: Money has value for its own sake only

Money is something which has value for no other reason that its being money. Money has value for its own sake. If something (such as a commodity) has value for some other reason than its status as money then we can think of it as being only partially money. The familiar notes and coins which are issued by the state are fully money because they have no other value or purpose.

Frb denialists think govt credit is worthless

The government is insolvent (their promises are worthless) or banks print money... not both of these statements are false (they can't both be false because there is no third option) one must be true. Either banks print money or the promises of the government are not worth anything. If government credit is valuable then banks print money.

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Anything with deposit insurance is not a bank

All banks can fail which means that entities which are perceived as banks are not banks because they have deposit insurance and cannot fail. Entities which are commonly perceived to be banks cannot fail and are not banks... they are part of the government.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Fractional reserve banking is insane

The contradiction is that any firm for which fractional reserve banking is possible is not a bank and so the name is misleading and inaccurate. No one can do fractional reserve banking because to be able to do it means that you can increase the money supply which means you are government and not a bank. Fractional reserve banking is impossible since it would not be banking.

Monday 7 May 2012

Banks can't increase the money supply

The government is not and cannot be a bank... if an organisation (perhaps with the appearance of being a bank) can increase the money supply it is not a bank it is part of the government.

Only government increases the money supply not banks.

Banks cannot increase the money supply... even the central bank as well as member commercial 'banks' is not really a bank it is just (nothing more than) part of the government.

Sunday 6 May 2012

Politicians do not understand the electorate because of fptp

First past the post enables politicians to not know what people want. With pr we know what people want (even if they are wrong) because they have a free choice and no reason to vote tactically. Tactical voting means that politicians may get votes in spite of people not entirely agreeing with them... and not get votes even if people agree with them. Fptp makes politics confusing for politicians who do not know what people want.

Anyone that defends frb is a socialist

Anyone that supports fractional reserve banking is not a libertarian. Libertarians dislike fractional reserve banking.

People think banks can fail

Fractional reserve banking is entirely a fraud. It would not work if a sufficient number of people are aware of it... it requires people not to know about it which means it is a fraud. The fraud is perpetrated not simply by the banks but by a combination of the government and the banks. The government and the banks are one if there is deposit insurance (and fractional reserve banking) so the fraud is perpetrated by the government. Frb is a fraud perpetrated by the government.

Saturday 5 May 2012

Banks are not private because of deposit insurance

Banks with deposit insurance are not private firms... they rely on the government to maintain solvency. Banks are not private if they have deposit insurance they are being protected by the state like the public sector.

Fptp is good because it delays change

First past the post is better than pr because it is an obstacle to revolutionary change. To make a significant change to the political system under fptp requires that you must join (and convince) one of the main two parties. With pr we can manifest change without joining one of the main parties. It is because fptp delays change that it is preferable.

The govt is inconsistent to let banks print money

It doesn't make sense for the government to tolerate unsound banking and allow banks to increase the money supply. Frb (in conjunction with deposit insurance) is good for the banks of course but it's hard to see what the government gets out of it.

It's strange that the government lets the banks increase the money supply.

Libertarians who understand banking hate frb

Fractional reserve banking is the reason why we cannot let banks fail. If banks have practiced fractional reserve banking (frb) in the past then the extent of the collapse which would result from free banking would be too great for the government to tolerate. The government can't let banks fail because they have done fractional reserve banking. Fractional reserve banking makes it impossible for the government to let banks fail.

Libertarians who understand banking realise that frb is a problem because it (induces the government to protect the banks and thereby) prevents free-market banking. To not realise that frb is a problem suggests that you do not understand the banking system.

Work doesn't pay if banks can print money

The existence of unsound banking* means that banks are able to exploit the balance sheet of the government. The government has failed to protect its balance sheet. We cannot have sound money without sound banking. Without sound banking there can be no sound money. If sound money is good then we would want to have sound banking... but it might not be good. It is (might be) bad if money holds its value because fiat money is only a store of value relative to others. It has value only because of its scarcity amongst others. It is comparative wealth not absolute.

Fractional reserve banking makes fiat money a very bad investment. But even if bad money drives out good money it does not alter the fact that bad money can still form a part of the money supply. People still use fiat money despite Gresham's law. Fiat money is still money despite it not having any objective value.

The government survives the inflation caused by fractional reserve banking which is bad for people who earn and save money. Unsound banking destroys the incentive to (work and) earn money... unless the government does not survive. Because the government survives fractional reserve banking it (frb) is bad for people who want to save money.

Inflation destroys savings. Fractional reserve banking is bad for (rich) people who have money.

*A combination of deposit insurance and a lack of any prohibition on fractional reserve banking.

Friday 4 May 2012

It is wrong to accept a subsidy from the government

Inflation (currency counterfeiting) is not theft. It is not the fault of the counterfeiter that the government creates artificial demand for fiat currencies. If the government did not tax people then there would be no demand for fiat and value could not be extracted by currency counterfeiting. (So the harm caused by counterfeiting is a result of taxation.) However... if there is taxation than allowing some people (banks) to counterfeit does create a problem and invalidate the social contract. Taxation is not valid if banks are allowed to print money. If there is taxation (a fiat currency) then frb must be verboten (illegal) otherwise the government is invalid. The government is only valid if frb is made illegal. If we have taxation (and it is to remain fair) then we must not have frb. Frb makes tax unfair. Only if the government makes frb illegal is it valid. Government is invalid if it fails to prohibit frb.

First past the post is bad for the individual

"Remember also that the smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights, cannot claim to be defenders of minorities." Ayn Rand

Proportional Representation is reality

A common assumption is to assume that people that advocate pr are advocates of the government because part of the unpopularity of government is derived from fptp. If fptp is remedied... so the argument goes then government will be less unpopular which allows for greater socialism. But this is a false argument. We are not protected from socialism because the government is offensive but instead because many voters do not want it. It is not because of fptp that some people oppose socialism... they are ideologically opposed and would remain so even with pr. It is not good to be a liberal because it offends socialists... offending people is not the aim. There is no point offending people (as fptp does) if there is not a justification for it. Just because fptp is offensive doesn't mean that it is correct... communism was offensive.

Thursday 3 May 2012

Full reserve banking is not banking

Fractional reserve banking is banking there is no other kind of banking. Banks do not engage in full reserve banking.

The only kind of banking is fractional reserve banking... all other kinds of banking are a type of storage. An institution which practices full reserve banking is not a bank it is a safe... or a warehouse.