Re: POLI: Random democracy

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@calweb.com)
Sun, 16 Feb 1997 16:16:58 -0800 (PST)


> Since it seems likely that we need _some_ government, to regulate
> necessary non-local interactions (pollution, other public bane/public
> good problems) and to make necessary but arbitrary decisions (which side
> of the road to drive on), we still need to think about what form of
> gov't to have, and representative legislatures still seem the best bet.

Both of these fallacies have been sufficiently debunked: the "negative
externalities" myth by Coase's work, and the "standards" idea by the
simple evidence of reality that most standards are private. It makes
as little sense to me to argue about what kind of legislature is best
as it would to argue how to make the slave trade more efficient. The use
of force to rule others is evil, period. The strong burden of proof is
on those who would rule us to prove that /any/ involuntary government is
necessary before it makes sense to argue its form. I have never seen any
such argument; most feeble attempts simply assume some premise that
would lead there, and never attempt to justify the premise.

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com>
<http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>