On Mon, 19 Aug 2002, Miles Jackson wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Aug 2002, Gordon Fitch wrote:
>
> > So we're really not done with airplanes. Good. Now, do you
> > all want to tell me who you're going to coerce, and how, in
> > order to get the airplanes, steel plowshares, and so forth?
>
> Both sides of this debate seem to accept the premise that people
> will only do socially useful labor if they are coerced
Actually, as far as I can tell, Gordon emphatically doesn't accept that premise and wants to have someone prove it him, i.e., that airplanes can't get built without coercion (and are therefore impossible to build in a non-coercise society). But he's been expressing himself so conditionally -- accepting his opponents' premises arguendo at great length and then tacking on his fundamental view as a coda -- that everyone he's arguing with thinks he does accept it.
Michael