On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 7:01 AM, Dan M<[email protected]> wrote:
> John, would you agree that some sort of community system, like the courts, > are necessary to resolve disputes over true ownership of property, > contracts, and the like? Necessary, no, I can imagine alternatives that might be practical, at least on a small scale. But desirable, yes, I think it is a good idea to have some sort of government justice system to settle contractual and legal disagreements. I've never met anyone who thinks that a free market means total anarchy. A free market simply means that people are free to enter into agreements with others. If these agreements are formalized into a contract, then it is a good idea to have some way -- that all parties agree is fair -- to enforce the contract. I think a government controlled enforcement system is a good idea, since I suspect that any privately run enforcement system would be more likely to be suborned than a government controlled system. It is difficult for me to generalize on this subject, but I'll give it a shot (you probably should not try to read too much into this). Government is a good idea when its purpose is to preserve freedom (prevent loss of freedom) by those who would directly harm or coerce others. So, a court system is generally a good idea, as is a police force, and a defensive military force. Of course, these could (and in certain historical cases did) go horribly wrong, but I think that it is less likely to go wrong than the alternatives. By the way, as I've mentioned before, I have not read any of Ayn Rand's novels. If you want to discuss a SF novel with libertarian ideas, may I suggest Heinlein's Moon is a Harsh Mistress? And I don't mean to suggest that as a libertarian guidebook or anything (it is rather simplistic), but it does bring up some interesting ideas that might be worth discussing on a SF forum. For example, there is an interesting court / justice system which may be workable on a small scale, but I do not see how it could be scaled up beyond a community level. _______________________________________________ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
