I think you bring up a good point, jimaustri123. Don’t you think vigilance would be everyone’s natural state? That makes sense to me. And if that’s actually the case, it means people learn (and thus are taught) to not be vigilant. Maybe they even think they are being vigilant when they’re actually being the opposite of vigilant. Any thoughts?
I had another thought about this.
If a person felt certain about something, he wouldn’t be vigilant about it, would he? After all, if it’s a certainty, then by definition there’s no possibility of it not being the case, so there’s nothing to guard against. So people may learn to not be vigilant about something if they’re taught to believe in an illusion of certainty about it.
Agreed Autolykos,
Being viligant should come naturally to those who don’t take freedom for granted… because in a world where freedom to choose includes the freedom to make bad choices(choosing between good and good is not really a choice), one should expect that occasionally someone will go off the rails and it could have bad effects on others. I personally would prefer to live in a world where people are free to choose badly and yet, as far as possible, have the consequences of any poor choices restricted to the poor chooser. Now we may not be able to get an absolutely Libertarian society going but we could go pretty far and definitely far enough to rid the world of war and major criminals. We could give ourselves enough freedom to reach a higher plateau from which to re-assess mankind’s position and find the answers to questions long thought of as being beyond our reach. As Einstein once said, you cannot solve a problem with the same level of inteligence that created it. At least achieving a limited state would enable us to improve our general condition such that we could see more clearly. Perhaps a stateless society in some form would do the trick, too. I don’t know for sure but if you find Margaret Mead’s minority and impart the message of Liberty you are in with more than a shout. Margaret Mead said it is always a minority: “Never underestimate the power of a small group of thoughtful committed citizens to change the world… it’s the only thing that ever has.” I think we just need a slightly bigger minority than we currently have but we do need it with a dash of speed.
A key factor in this message is how responsibility fits into the picture. Freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin. If your actions result in one side being prized as untouchable by any government authority it will be found that the same end has resulted for the other side. Then again if you claim to be for freedom, yet your actions show you to be shooting holes in individual responsibility… you reveal your true intentions. I maintain it is exactly this shooting holes in individual responsibility (‘in the name of freedom’, as though the two were mutually incompatible) that allows the state to elude its proper restraints. All governments everywhere despise self-helpers.
Considering I see limiting the state as entirely possible, I don’t see a problem with having one. If I thought that there was some mysterious force making it fail which was completely outside of our control, then perhaps I’d lose hope pretty quickly. But I believe we can reverse the current downward spiral as has been proven to one extent or another throughout history. And having come as far as we have, we could actually take this to another level. People are incredibly resilient. It’s as though that desire for freedom simply cannot be extinguished. Our current situation is pretty dire given the erosion of liberties in the West but we still have a lot going for us. We can’t really afford to lose sight of that.
Come to think of it, how many people you know actually think Bernanke or Krugman are experts based on any evidence? Everyone can see the world’s economy is in a mess with these clowns telling us they are monetary and economic experts. I’m pretty sure people don’t say anything because nobody else (they think) is saying it. It’s a classic case of the Emporer’s new clothes. People talking about 19th century classical liberal ideas is infectious. I can see it with the Pauline presidential campaigns. Young people who learn about this are just not going to let it die… they will be the freedom fighters who make a real difference.
A bloated state is the result of individuals having fallen asleep at the guard post. Eternal vigilance is the only way to play the game and win, in my view.
By “nationalism” I was referring not to the existence of the nation-State as such, but to “nationalistic” policies: e.g. immigration restrictions, protectionist trade barriers, aggressive foreign policy, competitive currency devaluations, etc. But, yes, of course this is all a moot point from an anarcho-capitalist perspective.
I’m not sure if I know what you’re asking. If you’re asking whether minarchists would favor a minimal role for the State in foreign affairs, as they do for domestic affairs, I would think so, but there are exceptions (e.g. some Randians). If you’re asking whether minarchists would want a world-minarchist-state, I would think not, but again, there may be exceptions.
To be clear, I myself am not a minarchist in the usual sense of the word: i.e. a minimal statist. I’m in favor of a natural (i.e. non-coercive) monopoly DRO, which sans the coercion very much resembles a minarchist state, hence my username.
No, it cannot be done, cannot be long-term maintained. Because you have tried to limit government by using government, and this is a contradiction and a flaw in the design of limited government.
It was a noble attempt to separate powers and in theory set the organs of government against each other with checks and balances, limited by a constitution and by rights. Rothbard treats this well in For a New Liberty.
Ultimately, though checks and balances may slow the progress towards increased gov power, it cannot stop it. Because laws are static and people are the ones that must interpret and enforce those laws. Since laws are susceptible to interpretation, it is possible for them to be chipped away against in meaning continually.
Looking at the constitution today, it’s clear that it’s little more than a rag that wipes the floor of the Congressional chambers. It’s not being followed remotely, and various clauses have been blown out of proportion to justify literally anything Congress wishes to implement. Enumerated powers? Powers reserved to the states and the people? Not if the general welfare clause has anything to say about it.
Rothbard shows that the majority party in power has incentive to increase their power. And that the only wepaon the minority party would have against them is a strict construction of the constitution–exactly what we’ve seen the two sides argue over. And in response, the majority party will simply put forth their own loose construction, and armed with all the powers of the federal government how could the majority party not simply push through that interpretation–the minority party has no power to resist whatsoever.
If we had the right of secession that would be one thing, but even that has been taken.
I also believe that any political system predicated on collectivism will tend towards collectivism over time. Democracy is inherently collectivist, as it’s a mechanism of forcing laws of the majority on the minority. We’ve seen that, where we have the left pushing towards more collectivism and the unprincipled right trying merely to hold the status quo. In that contest, any compromise moves the country further and further into collectivism, and that’s exactly what we’ve gotten.
Your Jefferson quote about eternal vigilance–Jefferson was a fool. He was a great man, but it’s by his efforts that we have learned that his experiment has ultimately failed–even if it was a step forward in his day.
What libertarianism represents is the final victory of freedom over the forces of aggressive collectivism. A victory that does not require eternal vigilance for it does not allow aggression even part-way into the door, it shuts it out forever.
If you predicate a political system not on collectivism but on individualism then it will, over time, tend towards individualism. That’s what a libertarian society would represent, a complete reversal of the political slide we’ve seen over the last hundreds of years.
No, limited government cannot be long term contained.
There was a time when I believe that perhaps limited government was workable, as long as we could overthrow it every few hundred years when it got too big and powerful and oppressive. At the time I didn’t believe a completely free society practicable. But, with study and time and help, all of my skepticism was in due course answered, and I see now how a completely free society can escape the shackles and tendencies of history.
It is time for a new dawn of libertarian principles in the world today.
Pax libertana.
There was a time when I believe that perhaps limited government was workable, as long as we could overthrow it every few hundred years when it got too big and powerful and oppressive. At the time I didn’t believe a completely free society practicable. But, with study and time and help, all of my skepticism was in due course answered, and I see now how a completely free society can escape the shackles and tendencies of history.
Very interesting. Thanks for that response. I’m not convinced but it has definitely given me food for thought.
I suggest a good long meditation over For a New Liberty, as a start.