> Who enforces or guarantees this contract?
>
I posited an interested buyer and a willing seller. Now, what kind
of interest would it be that wouldnt cover taking delivery? If you
cant carry the heat, stay out of the chamber, one might say -- but
this basic nobody-trusts-nobody commercial transation prevails
across a good bit of the occupied portion of the earths surface, so
lets call this the baseline, or the fundamental civilizing tendency.
But (as youre just on the verge of pointing out Im sure), its a
wearisome life, not to say nasty, brutish and short. So over the
eons, a variation on the theme has emerged, called 'organization.'
The sellers may organize to keep the shysters out, or the buyers
to garner economies of scale, or (lo!) the middlemen, to keep the
traffic flowing smoothly. Now this last organization is called
'government' when its approved of, mafia when its not, but their
edge is 'controlling' the money supply (meaning they take a
percentage whether it goes one way or the other) -- and their
reciprocal responsibility is to enforce contracts *on behalf of* both
the buyers and sellers. Let's call this the *derivative level of social
intercourse.
So the answer to your question depends on what stage of
'civilization' youre dealing with; my point re goodwill is that neither it
nor any other quirk of the system we are used to can be taken for
granted even in dirt-space, let alone on the net. Certainly, it would
be wonderful if easy credit was available by email, just as it is
down on 3rd St, or if trademarks were respected just because
trademarks *ought to be respected -- but if it doesnt happen, we
cant just stamp our little feet and insist that there oughta be a law;
we have to go back and see where the system came from:
derivative structures simply arent worth much if the fundamentals
crap out.
Seriously, if you dont care for the prospect of enforcing your own
contracts among strangers, I recommend you pull together a group
of trusted individuals, buyers and sellers, and build up a *practice
of mutual defense/ recognition/ security/ communication/
enforcement/ commerce. You could even call it a 'network' -- no,
that would be confusing what with all the untrusty, paranoid,
squinteyed characters hanging around the networks we've already
got. I guess you could call it a 'society' tho; that term has been
standing vacant since we all figured out we didnt need it any more.
kerry
