Some points were brought up in the comments of a libertarian youtube video with the goal of dissolving government:
- Are you against taxes in general or just federal taxes? Local taxes keep the community functioning.
- What form of government will you replace the existing government with?
- What about national security and social security?
The following is my response.
Police, fire, education, road repair and other expenses to keep the local community functioning can all be provided by private entities. This is a good thing. Without taxation and coercion keeping these services going, it’s the community keeping them going. Services that do a bad job go away, because they run out of support and therefore funding. Services that do a good job stay around, because they get support and funding from their customers.You send your kid to school and pay for it. Just like grocery stores, there is not one school, there are many schools. Just like any other business, there is healthy competition between schools which entice teachers and other staff to do a good job, and prepare kids for the future. Choose the one for your kid that you think is best. Weigh in choices like cost, topics taught, teacher proficiency.
Just like a utility bill, you sign on to “firePro+”, a local fire protection service provided in partnership between three different companies with fire trucks. They’ve got an innovative online system that interfaces with your houses Internet-of-things smoke detectors. When one of your smoke detector goes off, they know about it, are dispatched and on their way immediately. There is incentive for innovative services like this because they want to stay ahead of the competition and keep your business. You voluntarily choose what service works best for you, or if you have some fire suppression system of your own, don’t use any service and save the money. That’s your freedom of choice, and nobody is going to take the money from you unnecessarily through taxation.
- No local taxes mean no firehouses. If your house burns down, nobody is available to stop the fire.
- How will Private sector firehouses that don’t exist now, be able to stay in operation long enough to fight fires?
- People will never voluntarily pay to keep private services up and running.
- You’re turning your back on a system you voted into place and that voted-in politicians are sustaining.
- Economic evolution chose this plan, not the people.
- Who prosecutes rapists and robbers in a free society?
My rebuttal:
There are no private sector fire fighters because the current system won’t allow it. Enable a free market, and everything once accomplished by government can be done by private sector. I like my private sector phone service. I pay the bill so I can use my cell phone. Same principal applies to private sector fire fighting. Same thing with my water, power, and sewer bill.
Local FD says, “Hey guys the fire department is closing down because so is taxation”. Local firefighters say, “Hey I like my job lets get some venture capitalist funding and start our own firehouse”. Transition period. They could even buy the previously government property and suddenly they’re operating with the same firehouse and the same equipment!
This process won’t happen overnight. If it did, some other government would probably move in and take over. Transitioning between government and anarcho-capitalism will be one big transition. There are prerequisites too, like raising the standard of morality in society to accept non-violent methods for solving problems. This is a multi-generational process which starts with peaceful parenting. By the time society has embraced non-aggression, a free market is possible.
I’m not turning my back on something I voted into place. This is an inherited problem that has spanned generations and has been around since before I was born. I don’t understand what you mean when you said economic evolution chose this plan.
As for the police service fund, well… I sure wouldn’t pay for that. I see no value in the service they provide. I’d rather just own a good gun than pay for a police force. Serial killers and rapists? Idk, maybe they’d get shot on their first attempt at violence by everyone who’s now packing because there’s no police. Instead of government having a monopoly on violence, the responsibility is shared among everyone. Mind you, I’m talking about self defense to neutralize an imminent threat.
Other than that, any other issues brought up through lack of government could be handled by any of the various dispute resolution services in the free market. I have some fun names thought up for these. “iJustice”, “disputes-R-us”, and “Squallm Down”
This Freedom movement is about waking people up to what is right and wrong. I’m talking philosophical levels here. We have some systems that are very wrong and immoral. Rather than accepting something that is wrong, recognize that it is a problem, and actually fix the problem. We can have a similar effect on the surface as government today, with underlying principles that are just and righteous. Non-violence is always a better solution than violence.
If you liked this article, consider reading the book Freedom by Adam Kokesh.
