-----Original Message----- From: Randi128 at aol.com [mailto:Randi128 at aol.com] Sent: 08 December 2003 16:09 To: dragaera at dragaera.info Subject: Re: OSC on the virtues of writer's block >The "free rider" phenomena is one of the central problems facing any society. Several studies, (I cannot quote >them as I am away from books), have concluded that it is the other members of society punishing the free rider, >(ie:social censureship) that actually limits the free rider problem. >Remember that most times the social punishment of a member of a society takes place because of altruistic >motivation. In most cases the punisher may not gain anything directly from the act of punishing, in fact, the >punisher may face social punishment themself if the other members of society do not agree with the act of >punishing. >Government, religeon and social structure only give the individual the frame work to act within. If these >institutions have provided a framework whereby the free rider may be punished effectively, without the punisher >being subject to social sanctions themselves, then the free rider problem may be controled or even eliminated. >which gets back to the point, that polotics and religeon may not be successful in eliminating or controling the >problem. >I tried to keep it short and to the point, I hope I summarized correctly. Nice summation and very informative, thank you. Mark