I probably don't eat nearly as much sugar as most people, but I still eat more than I should. I know it's bad for you, but I just haven't made the effort to eliminate it from my diet. Thanks for encouraging me to try again!

I certainly want to live long enough to live forever!

So true. It's funny to hear you write that, howeverr, since as of pretty recently you still mentioned that money was your top goal. I guess looking back at your RV experience, it all makes sense though.

Interesting approach. I haven't fully assimilated the idea of taking complete responsibility for other people's actions yet myself. You might not have intended it, but that's a very subjective reality perspective. It does seem like a very empowering approach.

"At the same time, I never feel bad about decisions I’ve made. There’s no point. The best thing that can be done is to analyze the mistake and use that info for future decision making."

I logically get that, and try to do it, but sometimes it's hard for me not to beat myself up for bad decisions I've made.

@Jim -- the difference being that if it's government controlling them, there is no other choice, and the govt would (presumably) defend their monopoly. If it's one or more private companies running it, then the customers have no obligation to use their services. If the company fails to stop satisfying the marketplace, that opens the door for another company to come in and take their market share. That's why, absent of government force, a true monopoly is really not possible in a free market, unless the company is fully satisfying all their customers.

Tynan,

Excellent idea. Sounds very libertarian, very free market, and similar to what I would come up with myself.

At first I was going to ask you why the government needs to handle the roads and the other things you have under its purview. Then I realized that the "government" you talk about is really a government in name only. What you call the government is really more a business. A government is a monopoly on force within a geographic area. The vast majority of what you describe doesn't involve force (with the possible exception of "power plants would have to be inspected by scientists" -- "have to be" sounds to me like force).