> >From: "Olga Bourlin" <fauxever@sprynet.com>
>
> >I personally don't understand the trust libertarians in general
> >seem to put on "the individual." I don't recall reading of any
> >time in our history (U.S. history) when libertarianism was
> >supposedly in bloom, and when peace, prosperity and goodwill
> >reigned. If there was such a time (a better time for citizens in
> >the U.S., compared to recent years), I'd like to know when
> >that time was.
>
> There was no "golden age of Libertarianism", and individualism and
> Libertarianism are completely different.
As far as the trust issue, I do believe that history shows nation/states as
being the purveyors of millions of deaths via wars, genocide, etc... Also,
governments ARE a collection of individuals, just given the power of using
legalized force. My question is, why would anyone trust governments given
their history?
Also, the closest we come to a "golden age of libertarianism" is that period
of time here in the IS from the country's founding to about 1900. A nation
with nothing but trees, rivers, and rocks was turned into the wealthiest
nation of all time! Why didn't this happen elsewhere? What is it that we had
more then anyone else on the planet (don't even try the slave point, other
countries had FAR more then we did)? I put forth freedom. Yes, it wasn't
complete, and there were still government distortions of the market, but
that was minimal. I recently heard a quote im going to adapt. "Only an
intellectual could evade the fact that countries with more freedom tend to
be wealthier and more peaceful".
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