[oblio]

Unfettered markets are how we get burning rivers.

I know we're on the bastion of libertarianism, but even though I work in tech, I don't feel that tech (hardware/software) is tackling the truly big problems of humanity, just the ones that bring the most money. We should at least acknowledge that and mitigate it.

[anon291]

Tech and the market are orthogonal issues.

Burning rivers? No failure to protect the environment is a failure of property rights enforcement. If your stuff is leaking off your property you should be forced to pay for it. That's just basic property rights. You don't have the right to put your stuff on others property

[chii]

Exactly! The "unfettered" free market examples are all externalities, which is unfortunately unavoidable. Therefore, the role of gov't is to remove by regulation and force, all externalities (and the best way, perhaps, is to fine/charge/tax those externalities such that the effect becomes neutralized).

This would work for carbon emissions, as an example.

[oblio]

Turns out, some people are taller and if we don't aim for equality of outcomes, they eat all the apples and shit on our short head.

Every HN poster should be forced to read the chapters in the Black Swan where Taleb describes Extremistan and Mediocristan.

With scalable tech almost everything becomes winners take most. Equality of opportunity leads to many people starving.