“best done person to person, in true anarchist fashion” ~ well said!

I also agree that many companies employ workers from other countries, and the primary motivation seems to be decreased expenses. As long as this “importing” includes giving prospective employees offers that they voluntarily accept, I support this practice. However, any candidate would be wise to consider a prospective employer’s practices toward current and former employees prior to accepting an offer.

Have you written more about your views on employment? I encourage you to link it here if so.

Thanks again for your comments – good to “meet” you!

On the matter of schools failing to adequately educate technically, while this may be true, it overlooks the fact that there are multitudes of well qualified, experienced and capable engineers and technical experts who have been shit-canned by companies like the one (I imagine) for which you work. These companies now import multitudes of tecnicians and engineers from abroad because it enables them to produce more cheaply (in the short run). I have a lot more to say about that – but my point is not to blame you or criticize you for it.

Thanks for what you are doing!

I believe I am not alone in wanting to live in a community that would voluntarily support the disabled or ill people among us. I believe that when we are free to pursue our own interests, those interests will include helping each other even in the absence of contracts.

Among other things, this law leads high school graduates to choose non-scientific majors in college, which in turn causes a dearth of talented college graduates ready to work in technology. Critical and creative thinking are not measured on the standardized tests required for federal funding, yet these skills are vitally important to the profitability of technology companies.

Since the time I wrote this post, I’ve learned that free trade can mean much more than contracts and other commercial transactions. Free trade can include all of the examples I described above and more. Some of my friends allege that voluntary forms of socialism can even be considered free trade. I’m still not an expert in all these terms. However, it’s easy and fun to imagine all the different ways people can interact with each other voluntarily.

The longer I think about the different forms of voluntary interaction in free society, the more I realize they’re already happening. I believe that the more we support all forms of voluntary interaction, the more power will shift to the many people who engage in peaceful interactions and away from the few who interact through coercion.

Thanks for your question!

Do you not consider buying groceries or other items at a local market or store an example of (free) trade [albeit potentially with government interference, e.g., sales taxes]? If that is free trade, in what manner is that relationship contractual? I realize that nowadays there are several implied or almost imperceptible contractual terms, e.g., if you pay by credit card you have certain “rights”, or the merchant slip may state something like “returns or exchanges only within 30 days”, but imagine a simpler transaction like buying some fruit with cash [oh, there's the government again] at an open market.

Thanks for your comments and for reviewing an earlier draft of this post.

Great stuff.

What I came up with is that a new breed of business venture needs to come into existence, one in which asset valuations and “shares” are all denominated in gold (for example). I mused about the possibility of trashing all of these “corporation types” that are defined in terms of how they will be taxed. Everything, but everything can be a joint stock company.

Even non-profits! You talk about volunteering, and that’s a critical thing, but I envision that that volunteer work would be given a concrete value, and if you weren’t paid in gold, you would be “paid” by increased ownership in the enterprise you were volunteering for. And each enterprise would decide for itself, upon formation, what percentage of the “owners” would be needed to “carry” any decision. Some might be 51%, some 60%, whatever. The people forming the enterprise would decide that.

Doc