What is the proper role of government?
I have been reading and thinking a lot on this lately.
If one person has "authority" over another, they will always be corruptible. I don't believe any man has the right to another's production.
I believe in voluntarist principles and therefore a society without rulers. A society only needs one key principle: mutual consent to mutual benefit.
If one person has "authority" over another, they will always be corruptible. I don't believe any man has the right to another's production.
I believe in voluntarist principles and therefore a society without rulers. A society only needs one key principle: mutual consent to mutual benefit.
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So the libertarian concrete boat would need Coast Guard inspection. True libertarians apparently feel they don't need no help from no government. The boat was put together by true amateurs, in the worst sense of the word. Apparently there were voids in the concrete hull. Their plan was to sail from port to port, avoiding all nasty authorities. They didn't account for King Neptune's tax collectors.
Rachel and Ebenezer: https://oceannavigator.com/november-d...
Hudson derelicts: https://www.riverkeeper.org/blogs/boa...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concret...
Ayn Rand's position regarding Libertarians was that of a spiteful diva to a charismatic supporting actor.
The same (?) folks tried to build a concrete boat. It sank in the Hudson River.
In any arrangement of human society, it is impossible to avoid the use of force over another.
That is what Ayn Rand discovered by analysis, and why she was not a Libertarian but instead invented Objectivism.
The bully will attack, you give in or resist with force. Then the bully gets allies, attacks are continuous, you must destroy the bully to survive.
In the past these groupings were called tribes with rulers being chiefs or barons, it started small then with success they called themselves governments. To stop attacks you need countervailing power.
If you condone a government to rule over a population, who watches the watchers?
There is government, just not much of it.
For human societies of more than about three people, government is essential. Not because it enables aims/ideals, but because it will arise by itself, inevitably from human nature of ambition and aggression.
You may deeply believe in voluntarist principles and in not having rulers, but your beliefs will not stop others from ruling/exploiting you if your power is weak. However attractive libertarianism may appear, it will always fail, quickly.
The proper role of government is to prevent that as well as to provide the mechanisms that prevent it from exceeding its proper role.