Jim Henley replies to Gary Farber's criticism of libertarianism. Actually Gary is responding to my comment when he writes:
Alternatively, we impose a middle man. We choose together to elect, via fair mechanism, a state and nation. We pick representatives to, ya know, represent us. And to vote on how we choose to give and take money from ourselves, along with choosing benefits that enable us to earn and have that money, and without which the laws of our chosen country, we'd have no such money -- said money wouldn't exist! -- and then we tax those who can spare it, in return for the benefits we've enabled them to earn and enjoy.
Jim -
I think Gary's "we" and "ourselves" here cover a multitude of sins. And while it may be true that "a state and nation" enable "us" to have money, it's at least as true that without the productive activity of individuals and voluntary groups state and nation themselves could not exist, nor could the benefits "we" use them to bestow on "ourselves." But leave that aside. His proposal is exactly what Tennessee has done. It chose representatives to vote and choose benefits, and said representatives have decided that they can't take that much more money for that many more benefits. This isn't any kind of libertarianism. It's the social democracy he calls for in action.
Which is pretty much what I was thinking. Furthermore, our healthcare system is a cumulative total of years of severe regulation of nearly every aspect of the business. In fact, it's hard to imagine what a truly private healthcare system would look like in this country. I'd like to think that it would be much more diverse, with many more treatment options, and much, much cheaper. We've priced so many people out of the system by inflationary government benefit programs that those programs have become more needed. Sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
One quibble - we certainly don't need the government for us to have money. We've had privately minted coinage in the past in this country, and there's no reason we couldn't have it again. Right here in Denver, the early days of mining in Colorado, banks and other institutions were making their own money. Until the federal government put them out of business, that is.
