Newland, is this a good working definition? Lots to chew on here.
Excerpt:
"In civics, minarchism (sometimes called minimal statism,[1] small government, or limited-government libertarianism[2]) refers to a political ideology which maintains that the state's only legitimate function is the protection of individuals from aggression.[2][3] Minarchists defend the existence of the state as a necessary evil,[1][4] but assert that it may only act to protect the life, liberty, and property of each individual. A minarchist state would therefore consist simply of courts, a military, and a police force—the mere components of a night watchman state. Generally, minarchists identify themselves within the broader libertarian movement."
1 comment:
The wikipedia definition Bill linked to is a pretty good explication of minarchism.
I would be an anarchist except that there is no possibility of "absence of government," which is what anarchy is. Even if only two people were left on Earth, one would govern the other.
Government exists in all human (and social animal) interaction. In human societies it appears to have an inevitable progression from natural expression of dominance (leadership) for survival purposes to bullying to corruption to totalitarianism.
No government (in the sense that we usually use the word) has not become corrupt and harmful and destructive of liberty. Not one. The government of the United States, purportedly conceived in liberty, provides one of the best examples of this.
The best we can hope for is to slow the progression, and in some cases to reverse it somewhat. But, without revolutions, we who love liberty always lose. Within revolutions, everyone loses for a while.
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