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Life as a Service

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Life as a Service

#61

Post by bigiain »

jschuur wrote: post #14
nagnatron wrote: post #5

This hits very close and I guess you only realize it if at some point of your life you live where you'd rather not but have no way to get out. I need permission from my government if I want to leave the country. Being given a passport is apparently not a right. Oh and they cost quite a bit of money and are valid only 5 years. That works out to a certain amount of money per day just to be able to exist outside the bor…

I challenge the 'quite a bit of money' part. Fees for a Dutch passport amount to about US $100 at the UK embassy e.g. (I'm Dutch, but live in the UK): http://www.dutchembassyuk.org/page/index.php?i=158 Sure, $100 sounds low for many people, even though it's a fortune for some. However, spread across a 5 year period, it's a little more than 5 cents a day.

Which, if it were the only complaint, could easily be dismissed. But there's more to government bureaucracy than just the passport department. How many other government departments are there who are saying "but it's barely 5 cents a day!"? Hundreds? Thousands? At what stage do we say "Hang on, that's _too_ much"? $5/day? $50/day? $500/day?

Re: Life as a Service

#62

Post by tmh88j »

olalonde wrote: post #52
arethuza wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"left to your own devices" That reminds me of the old status of being an outlaw - which really meant that you were outside of the protection of the law and anyone could do whatever they wanted to you. It was regarded as rather a harsh punishment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw

The modern version would probably be "freemen on the land": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemen_on_the_land "Freemen on the land" are people who believe that all statute law is contractual, and that such law is applicable only if an individual consents to be governed by it. They believe that they can therefore declare themselves independent of government jurisdiction, holding that the only "true" law is common law,…

My friend's girlfriend is a public defender and has dealt with many of them.

If anyone here has not heard of them or knows very little, I would suggest doing some investigating. I don't have respect for them (mainly because the overwhelming majority don't have a clue of the legal system and obligations they have as a citizen yet argue obscure laws), but it will provide some entertainment and a very strange but interesting perspective.

Check out youtube for some interesting court room footage, such as this man who apparently controls the court room because a judge left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzjv20sC5CY

Re: Life as a Service

#63

Post by digitalWestie »

eckyptang wrote: post #41
digitalWestie wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely right - there is no formal contract. What is being reflected on here is really a 'social contract' - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract

There is no social contract either. It evaporates in a moment's notice when you break the speed limit or download an mp3.

what do you mean by there being no social contract?

When you break the law the state punishes you because you have broken 'social contract'.

Re: Life as a Service

#64

Post by arethuza »

olalonde wrote: post #52
arethuza wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"left to your own devices" That reminds me of the old status of being an outlaw - which really meant that you were outside of the protection of the law and anyone could do whatever they wanted to you. It was regarded as rather a harsh punishment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw

The modern version would probably be "freemen on the land": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemen_on_the_land "Freemen on the land" are people who believe that all statute law is contractual, and that such law is applicable only if an individual consents to be governed by it. They believe that they can therefore declare themselves independent of government jurisdiction, holding that the only "true" law is common law,…

From that list they are particularly keen on declaring themselves "independent of government jurisdiction" when charged with motoring offences - I presume they had all of the required contracts in place to allow them to drive on the roads the rest of us paid for?

Re: Life as a Service

#66

Post by marklindhout »

fierarul wrote: post #17

This is a rather poor attempt at philosophy that basically rides on yesterday's blog (the pendulum one) remark about Life-as-a-Service. If anything it should teach people about how to keep the blog audience interested. I was pretty sure I could down-vote by now but apparently I can't downvote articles. I guess I should just upvote everything else on the page...

Riding? Yes.

Poor attempt at philosophy? No. This merely describes the daily situation here, and I find myself agreeing with most all of what he says. He is very well-spoken, and I believe it resonates with many people from the Netherlands.

Re: Life as a Service

#67

Post by jonathanleane »

wwwtyro wrote: post #44
mibbitier wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I've never understood, is why a seemingly large number of Americans don't seem to see the similarity between public fire protection, and a public health service. Aren't these two things pretty essential for civilisation?

> Aren't these two things pretty essential for civilisation? Isn't that also true of food?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Nutrition_Assistan...

Re: Life as a Service

#68

Post by flyinRyan »

Anderkent wrote: post #8

While some of the complaints are fair, the conclusion is absurd. The rights already clearly outweigh the obligations, which the author confirms himself by stating that "given the option I probably would/should have signed it [the contract". It seems to me the author takes many benefits of having the "Life as a Service" subscription for granted, and thus believes they are not part of the service - that they would pers…

But keep in mind; he doesn't seem to be a fan of property rights anyway, so he probably isn't sympathetic to a position of "defending your land".

Re: Life as a Service

#69

Post by flyinRyan »

eckyptang wrote: post #36

Some thoughts on this: You have no obligation to conform to these laws at all. You are not born into a contract. A contract is a piece of paper which you can use to wipe your bum with if you wish. You can in theory do what the hell you like. People regularly do. You can kill people, not pay tax, walk over the border of any country and urinate anywhere you like. The only downside is that someone who does subscribe to…

But if you think about it, doesn't this seem crazy? I mean, obviously I shouldn't kill people, but if I don't do the things the implicit contract expects me to, some crazy person will come up and put me in a cage.

For example, if I happen to grow a plant that will grow on its own without my help, and happen to store a lot of these plants for the winter, I could get locked up by someone for being a drug dealer.

Re: Life as a Service

#70

Post by flyinRyan »

phn wrote: post #28
_pferreir_ wrote: post #15

I think "Life as a Slave" would have been more suitable.

Have you read anything at all about slavery? Compared to that, being a citizen with rights as well as obligations is a huge blessing.

Well, it depends on which slaves you're talking about. Not being a slave is always better than being one, but sometimes "slave" basically meant being in a lot of debt...
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