kfl%mx.lcs.mit.edu@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU (09/03/86)
... What do libertarians do in the face of naked aggression on a
national scale?
Join the Army.
How would an army-less libertarian France, lets say, defend
itself from Nazi Germany in 1940?
Who said there would be no army? I only said it wouldn't get men
via a draft and it wouldn't get money via a tax.
This is a poor example anyway, since the non-libertarian France of
1940 did NOT succeed in defending itself against the Nazis.
Consider that voluntary contributions are tied to perceived
danger, ... - CWM]
I think enough people realize that the way to prevent a war is to be
prepared to fight it that the contributions will be sufficient. Note
that the level of per capita defense spending in this country, while
not under individual control, is approximately in the range the
majority want it to be in. If it wasn't, a different set of
candidates would have been elected unless the current set had
advocated a lower defense budget.
...Keith
[ I'm going to give up my profitable business of selling widgets and
join the army while my compeditor keeps selling widgets and stealing
my business? I thought a libertarian society was high-employment and
high prosperity. Who's going to give all that up to be a soldier? I
don't buy that any such society is going to be so clever that it will
pick exactly the right time to re-arm (pick the wrong time, and you
spend big bucks on weapons that will be obsolete when you need them).
Certainly in times of low perceived threat, contributions to the army
will be miniscule. If a threat appears suddenly, there won't be time
to rearm.
On a purely historical level, France could have defeated a German
attack in 1940. The French had a similar-sized army, more (and
better) tanks, and a strong industrial base. They made a series of
bad decisions that lost them the fight, but with the material at hand
(which included the BEF) they could have won out. But if they hadn't
been building all along they wouldn't have had even that chance.
I picked France because of the circumstances and of the perceived threat.
Would you rather me pick a capitalist, socialist or tyrannized society
that won? I can't see the point of that... - CWM]
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