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From: esk@wucs.UUCP (Paul V. Torek)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Walter Wego speaks out
Message-ID: <435@wucs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 24-Oct-84 12:34:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: wucs.435
Posted: Wed Oct 24 12:34:53 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 25-Oct-84 03:44:58 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: Washington U. in St. Louis, CS Dept.
Lines: 53

[wasn't it nice of Paul to let me use his account]

You folks probably don't know me.  My name is Walter Wego.  I've
been watching this discussion of libertarianism and I have a few of
my own comments.

How can any of you libertarians out there support the existence of
government?  Don't you know government is based on coercion?  Govt.
claims a monopoly on the right to use force within its territory (or
at least to dictate the terms under which force may be used) -- 
that's a definition.  (We might want to add extra conditions to this
definition, like that a government has the might to enforce this
monopoly claim -- thus a weak govt. might cease to be a govt. at all
-- but the above condition is necessary.)

All of the functions that some of you less consistent libertarians
have accepted as proper roles of govt., could in principle be
provided in the free market.  Consider police protection and the
administration of justice.  There already exist private security
firms that one can hire.  In a libertarian society, everyone would
have their choice among these type of firms in the free market.  
Those who could not afford them could get together with others in
their neighborhood and form self-defense associations.  If anyone
in the association is hurt and the guilty party can be determined,
appropriate punishment will be administered by the group.  If
associations and/or protection agencies ever come into conflict,
they can settle their differences by hiring an arbitration agency
(already done today in many labor-management disputes).  After all,
arbitration is much better for the clients of protection agencies
than trying to settle disputes by force.

That the free market can accomplish this and other functions that
supposedly require government is argued well by Sanders, *The
Ethical Argument Against Government*.  Of course, my friend Paul
here will probably complain about "externalities" and "public
goods", but the proper reply to him is that whether or not those
are problems for the free market, it simply violates people's
rights for the govt. to try to provide "public goods" by taxing
to pay for them.

Let's have some consistency, fellow libertarians!  Next time I'll
look at human rights and what they imply about our rights to
use or exclusive use of physical objects (including objects
improved by labor).  			--Walter

"I've got bad news and good news about the election.  The bad news
is that Ronald Reagan will win.  The good news is that Walter
Mondale won't." -- columnist Stephen Chapman

Brought to you by the Stephen Chapman for President Committee,
		Paul V Torek, chairman (ihnp4!wucs!wucec1!pvt1047)
Please send any mail to this address, not the sender's.  Thanks.