Re: connected capital

["David Spitzley" <dspitzle@gw.wash.k12.mi.us>]

Dan Bell <dbell@kent.edu> wrote:
>Yet, if the state is going to assist me in accumulating
>capital, it would seem this should be structured in a
>way that I cannot "squander" the capital in a short term
>way which leaves me back at where I started. A trust is one
>example of a mechanism which could attempt to safeguard
>against this.

>And yet, how much can we / should we protect people from
>themselves. And who's to say that the trustee's choices
>will be better than the beneficiary?

I think this represents an issue which is likely to be affected by social 
evolution over time if Kelsonian proposals spread significantly.  Initially 
there will tend to be a large amount of intervention by the state to protect 
new owners from either squandering their newly acquired assets or being bilked 
out of them.  However, as ownership diffuses to the point that the majority of 
citizens receive at least a significant fraction of their income from capital 
ownership, public support for state paternalism in capital acquisition will 
most likely dissolve as it becomes more of a hinderance than a help to the 
majority of people.