Travels, Publications and Policies

[tcpip]

It was caseopaya's birthday today. Gave her a "home made" ticket which provides the bearer an all-expenses paid holiday to Yogyakarta, Bali and Komodo Island within the next 90 days. You might think I like her or something. Naturally enough, I'm going as well. In a completely different direction, in the very near future I am heading off to Dunedin for a few days to investigate purchasing some of the fine old buildings they have down there. Will need to set up a ANZ bank account in NZ etc.

Handed in the first draft of a new book for Iron Crown Enterprises. As it has already been announced by the system editor, I'm giving away no secrets by saying it's Rolemaster Cryadon, basically a synthesis of the HARP Cryadon book and Rolemaster Express. RPG Review is late as a result, but will be sent out within the next twenty-four hours.

The Australian Senate is seeking public comment on climate policy. I have made a (too) brief submission. Inspired by angel80's words on the recent spat between the Minister and the Department of Defense, I wrote to the former that he abolish his own department (and why not?). On Sunday attended the Unitarian service; guest speaker was John Stone from the Australasian Centre for the Governance & Management of Urban Transport (GAMUT) at Melbourne University. Now on the organising committe for a public forum on the subject; will be arguing for "free and public" mass transit.

Comments

[horngirl.livejournal.com]

Does this mean you're looking at moving to NZ?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Not yet. The plan is to buy now whilst the NZ real estate market is getting the kick in the teeth that it so thoroughly deserves (i.e., having the worst index of housing affordability in the OECD) but in a location that I would like to spend some of my more aged years in.

New Zealand is a odd place. You can have compact, erudite university cities of a liberal and Scots disposition like Dunedin.. and you can have a place so boring that even a man of good humour as John Cleese once remarked "If you ever do want to kill yourself, back lack the courage, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick."

(Actually to be fair to Palmerston North, the women's public toilets in the town's central park are a nice deco design).

[forwrathandruin.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to ask (And I may have asked already), but, do you have an instant-messaging client you make regular use of?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I'm on Livejournal, Yahoo and Jabber most days during Aussie working hours.

[forwrathandruin.livejournal.com]

I feel like I'd have a lot to gain regarding knowledge of socialism, anarchism, and alternate-government just by sitting and having a talk with you that didn't come down to comments in LJ, that's why I ask.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Sure that's fine. Online now :)

[cluebyfour.livejournal.com]

Both links in the last paragraph point to the same page, which was probably not your intent.

Your use of "tragedy of the commons" seems inconsistent with its original meaning, or at least how I understood it from Hardin's original essay. He was addressing the issue of fundamentally unmanaged resources being exploited by multiple parties, all acting in their own self-interest--and in fact proposed privatization as one possible management solution.

Most overuse of resources seem to arise rather from incompetent government management and corporatist economic policies that allow exploitation of resources by the politically connected. That is why I am also skeptical of most "cap and trade" or emissions trading schemes--only a direct tax on carbon output would seem to have any real effect on reducing emissions, if the goal is to actually reduce pollution and not merely cook up another rent-seeking scheme.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Both links in the last paragraph point to the same page, which was probably not your intent.

Thanks, fixed now.

He was addressing the issue of fundamentally unmanaged resources being exploited by multiple parties

Yes, that's right. Indeed he did say if he had the opportunity to rewrite the essay it would be called 'the tragedy of the unmanaged commons'.

The point I was illustrating is that the private resources remain managed and other (generated within the private resource area) costs are pushed out in the public. So we keep our cars nice and clean and the atmosphere ends up dirty.

I agree with on a direct tax on carbon as well, insofar that any use has some economic cost.