Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site unmvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!cbdkc1!desoto!packard!hoxna!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!hao!seismo!cmcl2!lanl!unmvax!cliff From: cliff@unmvax.UUCP Newsgroups: net.politics.theory Subject: Re: What is a libertarian go[u]verment? Message-ID: <627@unmvax.UUCP> Date: Thu, 31-Jan-85 03:49:01 EST Article-I.D.: unmvax.627 Posted: Thu Jan 31 03:49:01 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 5-Feb-85 04:11:39 EST References: <421@klipper.UUCP> Organization: Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque Lines: 82 > Ok, I feel I just am missing too many facts on Libertarianism to be able to > judge it. Here are some questions: Facts? You picked the wrong net bub, (er biep) :-) btw, a capital L is usually used when discussing the Libertarian Party, the third largest political party in the good ol' U.S. of A. I am assuming you wanted to know about libertarianism in general rather than the LP. > - Where does the go[u]vernment in Libertaria (generic name for a > Libertarian country) come from. Is it elected? If so, what > about the minority that voted against? If not, how then? > Where does the power of the go[u]vernment come from? > From paid policemen/soldiers? If so, where does the money > come from? Libertarianism is theory that can be applied to any existing government or be used to create a new government. Currently there is no Libertaria, so it is all speculation...maybe some powerful extraterrestrials will force it down our throat, like Cod Liver oil. Since it is a minimalist government the people who vote against it can easily create another government underneath it (something that can't be done under the U.S. Constitution). In fact I would anticipate extended covenants pulling up much of the slack between a libertarian kernel and some of the functions that people currently expect out of governments (of course the covenents would be voluntary, but contrary to what some people will try to tell you, volunteer programs do work). With a sufficiently small kernel as the actual government itself, it would be possible to finance the entire government proper through private donations and user fees (i.e. a convicted criminal can either cough up sufficient money to pay for his trial incarceration, etc. or face deportation) > - Is it the go[u]vernment that decides when something is reasonable > (my neigbo[u]r is infesting my land with sound waves. I am > a physicist and for my experiments I need *silence*, and > my neighbo[u]r keeps whispering all the time)? If so, where > does it get its authority from? And where does one complain > if the go[u]vernmental decision seems unjust? If not, who > does? There are easily as many answers to this question as there are flavors of UNIX. > - Do legal persons (non-natural ones) exist in Libertaria? May I > start a charity company which will survive me? (Something > like Nobel, for instance, is that allowed?) Must there be > natural persons to be held responsible in case something > goes wrong? Again, as I understand libertarianism there is nothing inherent in the philosophy that mandates the legality of corporations. Most libertarians are strongly pro corporate law...I am not sure that I like it. > - Is there some sort of "higher court", to rely upon when one thinks > the (private?) arbitration didn't do justice? Many libertarians that I know of believe their should always be a final arbitrator tied into the government. That is my belief. > >Ah, but saying "this is my land" isn't sufficient to give you control over > >it in Libertaria. You have to *use* it. > > > But what exactly is *using* land? A person who owns a lot of land and has > other people living on it, doesn't he *need* spare land to provide relax > possibilities, and to secure a future for new-born children? Can the physi- > cist of above claim to need lots of land around him "since it has to be > silent here"? Again, this is another point of contention. There are all sorts of schemes related to land use. I do not favor the homesteading of land already claimed by the private sector. I believe that our National Parks should be in private hands, but that would be hard to do if the homesteading laws allowed someone to claim the grand canyon. In summary, libertarianism is a starting point. It is a minimalist government that attempts to allow people the freedom to live life as they see fit. The free market has to be preserved in order to allow people freedom. The Libertarian party suggests ways in which the U.S. government can be brought closer to the libertarian ideal. Libertarianism is the UNIX of governmental philosophies. I have an idea of a world government that would be the VM (without the inefficiencies) of governments allowing UNIX (libertarianism) to run under it concurrent with socialism (VMS) and fascism (take your pick). --Cliff