Conclusion of the discussion of the false dilemma

In previous episodes: my summary of Konstantin Morozov’s article “Anarchism against Anarchy,” and my statement of the key thesis of this article by presenting the reader with a false dilemma.

Next, Konstantin responded to my article on his channel, and in the comments under that post, we had a more or less substantive discussion. This left each party with a feeling of being right, while simultaneously being accompanied by an adjustment by each side—not so much of their previously stated position, but of the approach to presenting it. The final response in the conversation belongs to Konstantin, and I will probably leave the last word to him, so as not to write another update on this same topic shortly.

I don’t know about you, but left-libertarianism has become a bit clearer to me. Not in the sense that I have become closer to it, but in the sense that I now expect less cannibalism from its typical representatives than from some conditional Karl Franco, even if he were thrice right-wing and thrice an ancap.

Subjective Ethical Utilitarianism

I would like to recommend a very interesting article written byCreadon and published in the Freedom pride public page on the wretched VKontakte. The article brings ethics closer to economics within the framework of the general principle of methodological subjectivism, which is precisely why it is valuable, since economic theory is already very well developed and derived quite rigorously, whereas libertarian ethics has been attempted to be built on all sorts of strange foundations. Here, the foundation is reliable. I will provide a fragment as a teaser:

Let’s be blunt: nobody owes anyone anything. Instead of dividing people into debtors and beneficiaries, we will consider all human actions in a more general form — as a balance between rewards and costs. And questions of debt will remain a special case of this balance.
This can be briefly characterized as “subjective utilitarianism“. Subjective because it views people as subjects of action and takes into account their goals and means. Utilitarianism because its goal is maximum efficiency and maximum utility. This concept has great potential because, based on the same game theory, the most efficient strategies will win in repeated dilemmas. Moreover, “utility” itself has a very important property — within science, it is quite easily integrated into formal systems and exists there as an axiomatic crutch. Relying on this crutch, we can build further analysis around the system of utilitarianism without getting stuck in a dead end.

Imagine the interaction of individuals as a huge game where all resources are limited, and there are no hundred-percent guarantees or unconditional boons falling from the sky. The only way to obtain resources in such a system is by completing tasks. Each task has two parameters: the price (or cost) we pay for its execution and the result, which is our reward. When the reward exceeds the costs, we take on such a project. When the costs exceed the reward, we leave it. And yet, since human predictive abilities are not perfect, we sometimes miss the opportunity to participate in a profitable project. Or, conversely, we take on a doomed cause and incur losses.

Even if we add to these reflections some higher authority (for example, God), who will punish us for transgressions according to His principles, the central idea of the model will not go anywhere. We still have tasks that have their own price and their own reward. The price of an apple could be climbing a tree or going to the store. The price of sinning, say, committing adultery, is eternity in Hell.

It is important to understand that obligation is someone’s subjective perspective. In the cashier’s opinion, you must pay for the goods. In your mother’s opinion, you ought to visit her more often. In the opinion of the public (despite the vagueness of this category, nevertheless), you must observe generally accepted norms of behavior. In the opinion of the state, you must pay taxes. And the final decision on all these dilemmas, regardless of the circumstances, is made by the acting subject himself.

You. It is for you to decide whom you owe and what.

If you beat up a clerk, he will lie in the hospital for a couple of days and return to work, having lost very little. But if you beat up the president, for example, his diplomatic visit will be disrupted; the damage is great. It turns out that different compensations are due to them as well. How does this correlate with the principle of equality before the law?

Alexey Ryazanov

Values are subjective; this is an axiom of economic theory.
Even the same clerk will incur different costs depending on at what point in his life he gets punched in the face. Therefore, in the case of a drunken brawl in a pub, half an hour later he will be merrily drinking with the person he was just fighting with, but if because of the fight he misses the trip of his dreams with his beloved girlfriend, it will be fraught with consequences for him more serious than the failure of some shitty diplomatic visit.

More or less quantifiable damage from violence is covered by an insurance policy, and the insurance company then recovers it from the person who applied the violence, if it so desires. Here, the president and the clerk are equal: the more expensive the policy they bought and the higher the premium provided for under it, the greater their chance of receiving it. As for moral damages, recovering them is even more difficult for the president. The clerk can be litigious, trying to prove to an arbitrator how seriously he was offended, but the president, as a public figure, will have to weigh his words so that his behavior in court does not cause more damage to his reputation than the violence under consideration. I don’t know about anyone else, but if I were the president, I would limit myself to demanding a public apology and profit from beautiful photos of conciliatory hugs.

here, take an example from the Greeks

I will gladly accept bitcoins from you as donations, and I won’t even consider their absence as moral damage. Wallet 1A7Wu2enQNRETLXDNpQEufcbJybtM1VHZ8