[pvn]

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If an illegitimate government can last that long, why can't an illegitimate private company last that long?

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They can and they do, especially where governments are weak or non existent.

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More often, they flourish where governments are strong. Mercantilishm FTW.


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This is how the mafia works today, and it's very successful at it, but of course kept in control by the government.

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LOL. THe mafia only comes into being when governments impose prohibition.

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I am curious as to how ACers think an ethical company is more profitable than an unethical one, especially in a world where suppliers are often anonymous to the end purchaser (hence, no arguments from reputation).

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If the violence-based business model is so much better than the voluntary transactions-based business model, why does the mob restrict itself to contraband? Why doesn't it compete in the soda market, or the ice cream market? Why, when it DOES compete head-to-head with legitimate businesses (cf alcohol distribution before and after prohibition), does it invariably lose?

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you seem to be missing the point that government (and those in them) are under the universal rule of law. Their use of force has a very different kind of legitimacy to that of the mafia, operating under their own whim and constrained by no moral or ethical code.

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LOL. "it's not bad when the guys I like do it."