Saturday, February 22, 2020

Leaky excuses for government



There are a couple of standard historical justifications for political government. One is that government is needed to right wrongs. The other is that political government is needed for defense-- either against individual archators or opposition political governments.

Sounds reasonable... if you don't look too closely.

Is it even possible to use political government to right a wrong or in defense?

Not really.

Why can't government right wrongs? Distilled down, a wrong is a violation of property ("theft") and/or aggression against a person (violations of life and liberty)-- put together, they are what I refer to as archation. Political government-- or even just politics-- can't exist separate from theft and aggression. Theft and aggression are generally agreed to be wrong. You can't right a wrong by committing wrong.

The same goes for defense. Political government can't exist apart from theft and aggression, and what else is there to be defended from? Even if the one you use government against is guilty of using theft and aggression, your "tool"-- government-- wouldn't exist without theft and aggression committed against innocent others; "collateral damage". By using government you become the aggressor. Just because the one you use government against is also using theft and aggression doesn't make you right. It just makes you a participant in a gang fight; actively harming the life, liberty, and property of bystanders.

Statists who are desperate to justify political government use various excuses. But those excuses don't hold water and you'd have to squint pretty hard to not see the leaks.

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2 comments:

  1. The justification for "government protection" does seem to rely on some circular magic.

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    Replies
    1. Yet that's the one "mainstream libertarians" seem to try to use. The "only courts, police, and the military" folks.

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