Doing business and any financial activity are always associated with certain risks. Many will first think of risks leading to the loss of invested funds, however, that is not the issue we are interested in. We will consider the risk that violence, up to and including liquidation, may be applied to a person engaged in such activity. I think you have heard stories about how some businessmen were “taken to the forest” by their more violent and gangster-like competitors in the market. Frequently, a government may eliminate a person for “unacceptable” economic activity. An illustrative example is the recent story of the death of John McAfee, who had some problems with paying taxes and activities related to cryptocurrency operations, and who, as he claimed before his death, was threatened by representatives of the US authorities.
Of course, some will say that problems can be avoided by strictly playing by the rules of the state power and stronger market agents. But these rules are established unilaterally and can be changed at any moment to destroy your activity or make its conduct impossible. The mere fact of conducting some activity may be unacceptable to those capable of committing violence against you. In the best case, your business will be stopped due to the threat of violence from ordinary or stationary (“state”) gangsters, resulting in large financial losses. In the worst case, you will simply become another person who “committed suicide.”
Anyone engaged in any economic activity, especially if it involves running a business or investing in certain assets, finds it beneficial and necessary to invest in the fight against violence. Only by eradicating violence in human society can its risks be eliminated and one can finally peacefully attend to their affairs without fearing tomorrow. Investing in the fight against violence is clearly worth it to simultaneously preserve both your activity and your life!
