gabor@qantel.UUCP (Gabor Fencsik@ex2642) (09/01/85)
JoSH, in reply to a discussion of the Free Rider dilemma by Richard Carnes, gets on his soapbox and reiterates his favorite point, to wit: > ... there are some systems in which the rational behavior > of all the participants "sums" to the good of all (as in the market) > but ... many systems work the opposite way. In particular, political > systems work the opposite way: it is impossible for everybody to > get rich by stealing from everybody else. Are you saying that the inherent nature of the political process is such that it is bound to lead to the welfare state? In that case, the way to dismantle the welfare state is by abolishing the political process? Or, to put it more provocatively, do we have to discard democracy on our way to Libertaria? JoSH, if you bother to reply, please do not sidetrack the question by telling us about stealing and such. To simplify matters, let's all agree that the rollback of the welfare state is desirable. The question is HOW you propose to go about this, given that the political process won't do the job. Insurrection? The Second Coming? It took social engineering through the political process to create the welfare state. It will take social engineering through the political process to tear it down. Mind you, I'm only trying to take the libertarian program seriously: this hangup about the political process keeps getting in the way. ----- Gabor Fencsik {ihnp4,dual,hplabs,intelca}!qantel!gabor