fagin@ucbvax.ARPA (Barry Steven Fagin) (03/06/85)
I get the feeling from some of these postings that there are a lot of you out there who see socialists railing against libertarians, libertarians flaming against socialists, and who proudly proclaim that a middle ground is necessary to get the best of both worlds. This is certainly an appealing view, but I think it is an inaccurate one. Where the middle actually lies may be very different from the midpoint of the two points of view being compared. I view one extreme to be anarchy, (no government at all) and the other extreme as totalitarianism (nothing but government). The logical midpoint would seem to be enough government to balance the my rights to life, liberty, and property with everyone else's rights to same. My right to swing my fist stops at the end of your nose, so to speak. It seems to me that the minimal state of classical liberal theory (which, I'm sorry to say, present day liberals have long since abandoned), one devoted to protecting life, liberty, and property and NOTHING ELSE strikes a very nice balancing point between my rights and everyone else's. --Barry -- Barry Fagin @ University of California, Berkeley