two things come to mind. on the one hand, you are right that large corporations can exercise more power than small and medium-sized companies, but there is a reason why large corporations have become large and the same path can also be taken backwards, so if VW were to sell nothing more, then the company would consider other ways, but that is down to the preferences of the customers. The second thing is that it is really problematic that no class action lawsuits are allowed in Germany, the laws should change there.
Wishing To Live In A Slightly Better World
Originally posted in Financial Chastity Belts:
audioguy58 Cash is definitely the enemy here. If Junior is employed as a waiter, bartender, pizza delivery driver etc. , that would mean they are bringing home a large part of their income in cash every night, and that would tend to make an agreement of the type I have outlined above unenforceable.
audioguy58 I was trying to imagine that we were living in a slightly better world. What if there were nothing but digital currency, “smart” debit/credit cards, and Apple Pay?
“Whenever you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.”
-Harry Truman
Yes. I agree. That is precisely what I want.
do you really think it's good if all your finances are controlled by the state?
audioguy58 That is precisely what I want.
Individual liberty must “collapse to the size of a helium atom”.
as a libertarian i reject such things on principle, sorry 
16 days later
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audioguy58 Everyone would have an internet birth certificate, which would contain your DNA profile and a link to your current biometrics.
I think it is very draconian, I think China is doing something similar.
They require 3d face recognition data stored to telecom companies to open a phone line, and all social media like WeChat being linked to that. Cameras on streets recognize people's faces all the time and in some regions these system being used to oppress certain group of people.
And in an era when identity theft and phishing cause more and more damages, I would rather advocate to restrict collecting personally identifiable information to sectors that are required to do such things for tax purposes such as banks, stock exchanges, employment, insurance, etc and government services like online accounts for tax agency. If people know when and where that collecting such information are allowed, they will less likely to fall for Apple ID scam emails.
No offense, but your idea kind of reminds me of China at best and North Korean style to be fair. Chinese social credit score system basically dictating what is "right" way of life designed by CCP already freaks me out.
Rina yeah, everything about this freaks me out.
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Angelina as a libertarian i reject such things on principle
I think there are some things that we can agree on, I also reject these kind of principles.
In my opinion the problem of "nanny state" is based on refusal, or frustration with difficulties of today's parents to take responsibility as parents and want to throw their burden to the state.
Rina In my opinion the problem of "nanny state" is based on refusal, or frustration with difficulties of today's parents to take responsibility as parents and want to throw their burden to the state.
yes, i can really agree with this. i have often thought to myself: "don't have children if you are not prepared to take over the education". nowadays even 2 year olds are taken to institutions while the parents work. to be clear, i don't think it is bad if the parents work, but nowadays the children are educated more by the state than by the parents.
3 months later
curious See VW Dieselgate and how they handle it in most of Europe, where the authorities basically treated them the car manufacturers very nicely, and the customers often had to sue the car makers individually for damages.
Most of the costs e.g. VW had related to Dieselgate were actually outside the EU, where the authorities were not so coy in dealing with them.
Rina
It is not about parents.
A "nanny state" is defined as a state that is not holding inviduals responsible for their own mistakes.
That kind of tendency is visible in one way or another in most countries.
One good example from Australia folliwing the 2008 financial crisis.
To counter the crisis, stabilise the economy and at the same time invest into a sustainable future, the government had created a "home insulation program" where so far homes without insulation could get money from the government to put in insulation, in the hope of reducing heating/cooling costs in the future.
Now many new companies were created which specialised in insulating houses, among those many small businesses where people were essentially self-employed and just wanted to make money. Unfortunately some were actually not very smart and just nailed or stapled insulation material into the attics without first checking that there were no power lines in the way. And a few people died from electrocution.
While I would argue that when you carry out such work, you better should know about such basics. But the opposition made a big deal out of that and attacked the government, that it should have protected these people from their own stupidiy (as I would describe it).
curious A "nanny state" is defined as a state that is not holding inviduals responsible for their own mistakes.
yes, and exactly these mistakes can be made with one's own children. But if the state says that parents shouldn't make these mistakes and the state thinks it knows better how children should be educated, then I'm also talking about a nanny state