Economics Questions

Re: How are people protected from violence in a libertarian society?

Brycel_young — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:36:22 GMT

Thank you all for your help! A lot to look over, but I'm glad to see that there are no shortage of answers

Re: How are people protected from violence in a libertarian society?

Autolykos — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:38:30 GMT

Brycel_young:
Hello,

I'm somewhat new to understanding Austrian economics, but I'm very excited about it all and eager to learn more. One question I have is how are individuals protected from violence of others? I've read a couple places that government should exist, but only to protect the safety of individuals. Is this a common belief, or are there other ways that would deal with the problem more effectively. For example, I'm thinking of cases such as someone mugging someone else. What happens to the mugger? In that case, what role does the government play, and how is the government kept from over-stepping its bounds (i.e. declaring high-emissions vehicles to be endangering others). Thank you for your help!

You seem to be looking for some sort of guarantee - that is, some sort of way in which the outcomes you desire will be made certain to happen. That's impossible, even (if not especially!) in the presence of a state.

Re: How are people protected from violence in a libertarian society?

John James — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:33:13 GMT

Sorry I'm late. Welcome to the forum!

The Ultimate Beginner meta-thread offers quite a few resources for a wide range of topics. For this one in particular, you might check:

Courts/Law, Security/Defense (Free Society reading list & threads)

(I really like this one)

Re: How are people protected from violence in a libertarian society?

Wheylous — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 01:09:26 GMT

This list is should be good to get you started:

http://candlemind.com/projects/progclub/file/michael/getEducated.php?listID=16

;)

The essential reading is Chaos Theory. Quick read. Pretty awesome.

Essentially, you would have a free market in protection. As Molinari put it in the 19th century, if we know the market is so good at the production of goods and accept as economic law that labor and trade ought to be free, why make the arbitrary exception for security? As such, his very short essay on the matter gives a basic overview of the logic.

Murphy explains, then, why the warlords would not take over.

The matter of private courts is similar to the logic behind private protection - the courts compete for customers and those who are corrupt or bribed fall out of favor with the public.

There's more to it, but I don't have much time right now. Do read the above. They're good.

Re: How are people protected from violence in a libertarian society?

Kelvin Silva — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:48:05 GMT

Hire a bodyguard!

Private police.

Re: How are people protected from violence in a libertarian society?

Clayton — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:43:44 GMT

I'm not sure if there are reliable statistics, but first responders to any kind of accident are often private individuals. Ask yourself what exactly is the "secret sauce" that makes governmental first-responders better, faster, more effective, etc. than private responders? Your question was about security, so ask the same question about security services. What is it that makes government so magically wonderful?

Clayton -

Re: How are people protected from violence in a libertarian society?

Graham Wright — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:26:41 GMT

The second part of my Law Without Government video series features a story about what might happen following a mugging, in a society where you have law but no government. Government, as defined in the first part of the video series, is incompaitble with libertarianism.

Re: How are people protected from violence in a libertarian society?

Phi est aureum — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:14:49 GMT

Welcome!

People will be protected in a similar manner that they are provided with food or cell phones or anything else: markets.

Hopefully JJ will be here soon to provide you with a plethora of useful links to understand more thoroughly how this could be done.

Re: How are people protected from violence in a libertarian society?

gotlucky — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:08:01 GMT

These do not directly answer your question, but they will be immensely helpful to you in understanding law and its role in society:

What Law Is

A Praxeological Account of Law

Crusoe, Morality, and Axiomatic Libertarianism

How are people protected from violence in a libertarian society?

Brycel_young — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 22:49:44 GMT

Hello,

I'm somewhat new to understanding Austrian economics, but I'm very excited about it all and eager to learn more. One question I have is how are individuals protected from violence of others? I've read a couple places that government should exist, but only to protect the safety of individuals. Is this a common belief, or are there other ways that would deal with the problem more effectively. For example, I'm thinking of cases such as someone mugging someone else. What happens to the mugger? In that case, what role does the government play, and how is the government kept from over-stepping its bounds (i.e. declaring high-emissions vehicles to be endangering others). Thank you for your help!