Hello All,
Having watched Walter Block critique Coase's version of property rights put forth in The Problem of Social Cost, (which, for those who haven't encountered it, is that property should be determined by who can make best use of it in the future) I have come to a conclusion: Ronald Coase did not invent this theory. If I have a right to my own property, which most people in the mainstream will eagerly agree to, and no one ought to be given the power to abuse rights, then calling them "the government" doesn''t make a difference. Theft is still theft! It only makes sense when you apply Coase's theory. If the state can prove that they will use resources better than I (they can't use them more efficiently, of course, but they only have to prove it to enough people to establish themselves without fear of being overthrown), then they are free to take what they wish, thus justifying taxation, teh draft, and all other actions the state takes. In other words, since the creation of governments, there has been what I call selective application of Coase's Theorum. I rest my case.