There is a conversation taking place between me and another person over on my Dispatches from Libertopia blog.
It is a very typical "libertarian vs statist" conversation.
He thinks I am simplistic and I think he is blindly Utopian about The State (and buying trouble for himself).
I try to keep in mind that this is really how a lot of statists think: they are scared or suspicious. Of other people, of liberty, and- seemingly- of themselves if no one is looking over their shoulder. They believe in the worst case scenario when it comes to liberty, but think The State can work out just fine "if we get the right people running things" or "if we hold those in government accountable". They will grasp at any straw to keep believing government can be "good", and will desperately search out any potential problem they can imagine to keep from just being free.
But the comments over the years really are like a broken record. It's the same old things again and again- even in the same thread. Nothing new.
But I shouldn't complain. It's good exercise to get these same old questions again and again, and be able to deal with them without getting frustrated, because these are the same objections to liberty you'll face in "the real world" if anyone knows you don't buy the statist propaganda. And if you can't answer them there, are you sure you know what you claim to know? And the person asking the questions today has no way of knowing you have answered the same thing innumerable times in the past.
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The only objection I have, Hawk, stems from my "sovereign state" perspective. I am responsible for myself and nobody else. I have no real basis for prospective as to how "others" are going to behave in Libertopia, or how you or I or your antagonist are going to deal with aberrant behavior -- which will surely arise occasionally. I'm confident various free-market solutions will come into being -- professional arbitration being one.
ReplyDeleteThat, of course, raises lots of questions: one major one being who is responsible for rearing and nurturing and educating and "controlling" my children in regards to their interaction with the other kids up and down the block? Thankfully mine are grown, as are many of my grandchildren -- I'm a great-grandpa several times over.
Speaking of youngsters, what's fun in experiencing the free market at work is observing children in the games they spontaneously play -- and the "rules" they make up as the game progresses. Often dissension will ensue, but those instances are usually resolved by the biggest and most assertive kid in the game.
As a sovereign state I often have to deal with incursions of my borders -- more often than not by agents of monopoly "governments" deemed as necessary and socially useful by virtually all my neighbors, friends and family. That's really a pain in the arse, but not to the extent that I am no longer free.
And I don't spend a lot of time wailing and gnashing my teeth over them (agents of the white man's "governments" in all their levels). They don't deserve to have that kind of control over my emotions.
Will Libertopia resolve this dilemma? Some believe it will. I don't know. If monopoly rule is indeed co-opted by freedom, I suppose intrusions of at least that type will go away.
But if liberty and freedom are to be, it will be up to me.
Sam
I agree that no one knows how liberty will actually look. The purpose of my Libertopia blog is to show a possible future where things have worked out.
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