Nothing to do with Reich, nor minimum wage, this is brazenly off topic, but no one else seems to be commenting, and anyhow there hasn’t been a pot-pourri recently. It strikes me as one of those morally difficult questions for Libertarians to face, so might be worth discussing.
The White House continues to argue that ransoms help fund extremist organisations like the Islamic State group and would make US citizens more of a target.
But some have complained that policy costs American lives and that hostages from some European countries are often freed because such payments are made.
More than 30 Americans are currently being held hostage outside the US, Mr Obama’s homeland security and counter-terrorism adviser Lisa Monaco said.
OK, first I want to head off the obvious question, “What are we doing in the Middle East, anyhow?” not because it’s a bad question, but because the answer is kind of obvious, and it’s not the interesting bit.
So let’s presume that hostages are something that happens, and you can see it’s a pretty simple kind of economic transaction… you kidnap, you demand a ransom, you get paid. Before you all complain, this business model is pretty old, I mean King Richard the Lionheart was captured and ransomed, and not only that but he was expecting the problem and went to some (unsuccessful) lengths to avoid it.
Anyway, clearly if people generally do pay, the kidnappers are encouraged by the success of their business, and then you get more kidnapping. On the other hand, from a Libertarian perspective, the families should be able to buy back their loved ones if they want to, after all, it’s their money, right?
Nothing to do with Reich, nor minimum wage, this is brazenly off topic, but no one else seems to be commenting, and anyhow there hasn’t been a pot-pourri recently. It strikes me as one of those morally difficult questions for Libertarians to face, so might be worth discussing.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-25/us-vows-not-to-threaten-hostage-families-over-ransoms/6571504
OK, first I want to head off the obvious question, “What are we doing in the Middle East, anyhow?” not because it’s a bad question, but because the answer is kind of obvious, and it’s not the interesting bit.
So let’s presume that hostages are something that happens, and you can see it’s a pretty simple kind of economic transaction… you kidnap, you demand a ransom, you get paid. Before you all complain, this business model is pretty old, I mean King Richard the Lionheart was captured and ransomed, and not only that but he was expecting the problem and went to some (unsuccessful) lengths to avoid it.
Anyway, clearly if people generally do pay, the kidnappers are encouraged by the success of their business, and then you get more kidnapping. On the other hand, from a Libertarian perspective, the families should be able to buy back their loved ones if they want to, after all, it’s their money, right?