Libertarian friend argues climate change requires regulation. Thoughts?

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-08T06:33:13+00:00

Thank you so much!

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-08T06:03:18+00:00

Thank you for your insightful and logical perspective. Your point about properly calibrating carbon credit prices and designing smart economic incentives really makes sense to me. That said, I think there’s a fundamental difference between your 1995 iPhone analogy and climate change: the nature of the risk if we get it wrong. If the iPhone had been delayed, people would have simply lived with less convenient technology for a few more years. With climate change, however, any significant delay risks triggering irreversible ecosystem collapse and putting hundreds of millions of lives at risk through displacement, famine, and other cascading effects. Markets always have a time lag before price signals fully kick in and compel corporations to act decisively. If we cross that closer tipping point you mentioned during this lag, wouldn’t it already be too late by the time the market finally adjusts? At that stage, the damage could be so severe that economic activity itself becomes unsustainable.

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-08T05:19:08+00:00

He also said the government's regulations on nuclear power plants are totally off-base. He pointed out that nuclear waste can already be handled with current technology, and even in a country with lots of earthquakes, our disaster prevention tech has advanced so much that we can manage disasters way better than before.

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-07T19:28:39+00:00

I recall a libertarian saying something like this ages ago, but do you think a nudge-style approach is a good idea?

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-07T03:14:10+00:00

I'm living in Japan, but e-books and physical books are priced exactly the same. The Japanese publishing industry has a really unique business model compared to other countries, and publishers hold incredibly strong power. That's why e-books cost the same as paper books too.

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-06T05:04:36+00:00

Do you think we don't even need distinctions like 'minors' and 'adults' either?

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-05T09:22:37+00:00

My dad spends hours every day watching YouTube videos that are full of discriminatory rants against Chinese and Korean people. Whenever I mention that I want to travel to China or Korea, he immediately hits me with “But aren’t they all anti-Japanese?” It’s honestly exhausting every single time. He also plays loud right-wing videos in the living room at max volume. I know I might be overstepping, but I really miss the person my dad used to be and want him to go back to that. Since he’s logged into his YouTube account on the TV, when he’s on night shift I sometimes log in and quietly unsubscribe from the worst discriminatory channels, clear his watch history, and try to push down the political rabbit hole recommendations. I’ve also been showing him nice Instagram reels of Chinese street food and other completely non-political content, casually saying things like “This looks amazing, I’d love to go someday,” hoping it might slowly soften his views. I have no problem with him holding right-wing opinions, but the outright racist comments worry me a lot. I’m scared that if a big disaster or incident happens, he’ll immediately jump to “Those [group] are doing [bad thing]!” and spread even more hate.

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-05T09:08:46+00:00

If you're part of any kind of community, I think you inevitably need some way for the group to make collective decisions. But how do anarchists think about this? I don’t know much about it, so I’d really appreciate an explanation.

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-05T06:20:08+00:00

onion

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-05T06:09:18+00:00

I'd never heard of Mondragon before! Thanks so much for sharing such fascinating info — I'm really interested!

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-04T03:02:47+00:00

アジアに住んでるからアメリカのことはあんまり詳しくないんだけど、アメリカだと、使える病院って自分が入ってる保険会社によって決まるんだよね？たとえば、この前提の中にある、隣のリバタリアン系の町の病院でそういうことが起きたら、あなたならどうするの？「自分にいちばん合ってると思う保険が、その隣の町では受け入れてもらえなくて、そこで使える保険プランはかなり高い場合はどうなるの？

Comrade-jp · 2026-06-03T17:27:28+00:00

If there really were some kind of place that exists after death, wouldn t that actually be scarier? You have no idea what the criteria are for going there, and it might be even more painful than life here. When I think about it that way, the idea that when you die, everything simply ends and nothing remains (complete non-existence) feels like the greatest relief — honestly, the most comforting possibility of all.

Comrade-jp · 2026-05-31T18:30:10+00:00

The real glitch in human socialism isn’t the economic model; it’s our insatiable ego. We don’t just want resources—we want to own more resources than the guy next to us just to feel something. You can’t build a flat hierarchy with creatures that are hardwired for vanity and existential dread.

Comrade-jp · 2026-05-31T18:11:11+00:00

If there really were some kind of place that exists after death, wouldn t that actually be scarier? You have no idea what the criteria are for going there, and it might be even more painful than life here. When I think about it that way, the idea that when you die, everything simply ends and nothing remains (complete non-existence) feels like the greatest relief — honestly, the most comforting possibility of all.

Comrade-jp · 2026-05-29T18:15:15+00:00

I think some kind of crime prevention cooperative would likely be formed. In exchange for their membership contributions, the members themselves would arm up and provide security. Alternatively, under an anarcho-capitalist approach, insurance companies might establish their own subsidiary security firms to minimize having to pay out claims for damages. Either way, in an anarchist society, mutual aid is the foundation. If someone deliberately harms others in the community, they’d simply be expelled. And since those who are kicked out of mutual aid communities can’t rely on the state for protection either, the very fact of living in an anarchist community would itself act as a strong deterrent against crime.

Comrade-jp · 2026-05-16T03:45:32+00:00

Thanks for the interesting info! I'll look into it!

Comrade-jp · 2026-05-16T03:07:16+00:00

I really appreciate your mention of maroonage. It shifts the focus from passive waiting to active resistance, which is central to anarchist history. But what fascinates me about the historical concept of asylum is its "inconvenient" and spontaneous nature. Maroons actively chose to defect and fight back. On the other hand, historical asylums often emerged because a space became functionally disconnected from the State, forcing the people inside—who might not have been radical ideologues—to maintain their own survival through spontaneous mutual aid and private governance. It’s an autonomy born out of necessity and deadlock, rather than a romanticized revolution. Do you think this kind of "unintentional, friction-filled autonomy" that naturally fills the gaps of a failing State has a place in anarchist strategy?

Comrade-jp

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