Re: Black markets vs. cryptoanarchy

[dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM)]

Jim Wise <jw250@columbia.edu> writes:

> On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Timothy C. May wrote:
> 
> > My piece was written as a rant about the dangers of the proposed talk of
> > "privatizing food distribution points," about how this would result in a
> > system where only the rich could get access to nutritional food, and how
> > the poor would be made to suffer. And how this "caloric anarchy" would
> > result in vicious monopolies, price wars, and deviation from Recommended
> > Governmental Caloric Intake Rules.
> 
> Which it does...  FWIW, I tend to agree with your general point, but I
> moved from downtown Manhattan to Harlem recently, and was surprised to see
> how many foodstuffs cost _more_ up here, as well as the obvious fact that
> many are harder to get...  Junk food and cheap liquor are everywhere,
> though...

I spent a few years living in Columbia housing on 111th St and there are
plenty of good, cheap groceries around. If you choose to save on the rent
and to live, e.g., up by City College, then indeed there are fewer groceries
and they cost more. The clerks who work there also get paid much more than
the clerks midtown because they risk their lives.
And you spend more time commuting to Columbia.

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<a href="mailto:dlv@bwalk.dm.com">Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM</a>
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps