Comments on: Central control, central power http://www.remyroy.com/2009/01/02/central-control-central-power/ software development, technology, science and philosophy by Rémy Roy Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:38:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Rémy Roy http://www.remyroy.com/2009/01/02/central-control-central-power/#comment-10225 Rémy Roy Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:02:24 +0000 http://www.remyroy.com/?p=395#comment-10225 Hey Felix, I tend to think that our societies have evolved and are evolving in a way that is good for most people. I am not an environmental expert but I think plastic bags used as one-time disposable objects, they way they are mostly used here in Canada, are a treat to the environment. A plastic bag tax would considerably reduce that usage pattern. Hey Felix,

I tend to think that our societies have evolved and are evolving in a way that is good for most people.

I am not an environmental expert but I think plastic bags used as one-time disposable objects, they way they are mostly used here in Canada, are a treat to the environment. A plastic bag tax would considerably reduce that usage pattern.

]]> By: _Felix http://www.remyroy.com/2009/01/02/central-control-central-power/#comment-10203 _Felix Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:15:17 +0000 http://www.remyroy.com/?p=395#comment-10203 :) I'm amused by the thought that we could simply resolve once and for all which tragedy-of-the-commons situations require fixing with strongly enforced laws and which don't. Has it occurred to you that the process of working this out might already be going on, in the form of the entire history (and future) of politics? Incidentally, what is a plastic bag tax for? Politicians in the UK have admitted that plastic bags don't pose a significant threat to the environment other than being unsightly, but they want to implement the tax anyway, "to send a message". The message this sends to me is that I don't have the aesthetic freedom to simply not mind a few plastic bags drifting around. Instead I am compelled to throw a bit more cash down the central drain, in order to make me behave in a way which is, by somebody else's standards, more pretty. :) I’m amused by the thought that we could simply resolve once and for all which tragedy-of-the-commons situations require fixing with strongly enforced laws and which don’t. Has it occurred to you that the process of working this out might already be going on, in the form of the entire history (and future) of politics?

Incidentally, what is a plastic bag tax for? Politicians in the UK have admitted that plastic bags don’t pose a significant threat to the environment other than being unsightly, but they want to implement the tax anyway, “to send a message”. The message this sends to me is that I don’t have the aesthetic freedom to simply not mind a few plastic bags drifting around. Instead I am compelled to throw a bit more cash down the central drain, in order to make me behave in a way which is, by somebody else’s standards, more pretty.

]]>