Some people just don't get it- firefighting edition

Another entry in "Some people just don't get it".

Someone, or a site, calling himself/itself "Needlenose" has latched onto a symptom of The State and declared it to be a consequence of "Libertopia". He is gloating over the "libertarian" Tennessee firefi... firewatchers who refused to put out a fire until they got paid.

So, I posted the following comment (over a day ago, but it is still languishing in Moderation):

"You kinda miss the point, since things like this would probably not happen in Libertopia, yet this event did happen in a coercive, non-libertopian society."

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Defeating "confirmation bias"

How can you be sure that libertarianism- respect for the liberty of each individual- is the right path?

Confirmation bias means that we will ignore counter evidence and play up the importance of evidence that supports our case.

However, I didn't always support the whole "liberty package". In fact, there are aspects of libertarianism I used to hate. However, when presented with evidence that showed that respecting individual liberty was better- made my life and the lives of those around me safer, wealthier, and more consistent- I switched sides on those issues. I didn't allow confirmation bias to obscure the evidence for liberty.

Perhaps that means something.

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