An obvious question.

[rrneck]

Years ago in a discussion about how to deal with landfill waste a friend of mine unknowingly offered a market based solution: Make garbage pay.

Of course that was about the worst solution I could imagine since if we make garbage pay we'd be up to our asses in it even more than we already were. If you want to get rid of something making it profitable is exactly the wrong thing to do.

That was twenty five years ago, and look where we are now. Profiting from decreased stock values by short selling has helped turn our financial system into a macabre casino. Our privately run prison systems profit from cruelty and hate committed by (mostly) the poor and disaffected. We export weapons all over the world. And speaking of garbage the "cap and trade" solution to climate change is a template for another corporate shell game of hide the profits and distribute the risk. And of course we are in the middle of the health care debate with an industry that is designed to profit from sickness and death.

Does it seem as obvious to everyone else as it does to me that if something is understood to be universally bad for people, we simply shouldn't be able to make money off it?

[RagAss]

1. Greed left the stable !

[lyonn]

2. k&r