What I believe

From CroziervisionWiki

Author: Patrick Crozier

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I am a libertarian. I believe that "over his body and justly acquired property man is sovereign".

Contents 1 Q&A 1.1 So, you can just go and murder anyone you feel? 1.2 So, you believe in private property? 1.3 But, how was it originally acquired if not by theft? 1.4 What does your libertarianism mean in practice? 1.5 And, what does that include? 1.6 So, you're against the National Health Service, then? 1.7 Does that include the police and the army? 1.8 Why are you a libertarian? 1.9 OK, if everyone's free what's to stop me reneging on my mortgage? 1.10 Including selling yourself into slavery? 1.11 And, anyway, who is going to enforce this contract? 1.12 Why's that? 1.13 If you're so right how come you are electorally so unsuccessful? 1.14 The mass media? 1.15 Well, maybe it is because people are better off in the socialist now than the libertarian then 1.16 The universal adult franchise? 1.17 "...believe..."? 1.18 What about the War on Terror? 1.19 What about Ulster? 1.20 What do you think about constitutional issues? 2 Comments

Q&A

So, you can just go and murder anyone you feel?

No, my freedom ends where someone else's begins, so I can't murder, mutilate or steal

So, you believe in private property?

I do indeed

But, how was it originally acquired if not by theft?

Discovery, perhaps?

What does your libertarianism mean in practice?

It means that I am against the initiation of force including government force

And, what does that include?

Oh, the usual: taxation, regulation, safety regulation, state ownership, contracting out etc

So, you're against the National Health Service, then?

Indeed, and a whole bunch of other things

Does that include the police and the army?

Er and there are a few other things I am unsure of such as immigration and Intellectual Property

Why are you a libertarian?

See here

OK, if everyone's free what's to stop me reneging on my mortgage?

Contract. If you freely enter into an agreement whereby you give up some of your freedom then you have to see it through

Including selling yourself into slavery?

Er

And, anyway, who is going to enforce this contract?

The state, probably. And yes, seeing as I am against just about every other state institution its seems inconsistent to be in favour of its existence here. There are libertarians who argue for the complete abolition of the state but I've never found their arguments particularly convincing?

Why's that?

Mainly, because on those rare occasions that the state has disappeared eg Somalia in the early 1990s, the outcome has not been a libertarian utopia. Far from it in fact.

If you're so right how come you are electorally so unsuccessful?

I'm not entirely sure. I accept that most people aren't libertarians. But why is that? After all, as recently as the 1840s (in the UK at least) libertarian ideas dominated. Possibilities include: the mass media, the rise of socialism, the lack of libertarian writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the subtlety of the ideas, the universal adult franchise.

The mass media?

Hmm, I'll have to think about this one

Well, maybe it is because people are better off in the socialist now than the libertarian then

But, this is to ignore the fact that we have made massive strides in the intervening period. We are better off because of the invention and/or development of: trains, planes, automobiles, computers, medical science, water supply, food supply, telecommunications and a whole host of other things. And which part of the economy supplied these things if not the freer part? And anyway, if socialism really was the way to go it would have buried the West in the Cold War. It didn't.

The universal adult franchise?

It creates a class of voters who believe that they have nothing to lose from an increase in state spending. When all voters are also taxpayers (as they pretty much were before 1867) they all know they do have something to lose and so are a bit more careful

"...believe..."?

In the long run they are worse off. Higher taxes lead to poorer people

What about the War on Terror?

Oh golly, that's a big question and may take some time to answer.

What about Ulster?

Ditto.

What do you think about constitutional issues?

Once again, ditto.

Comments

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