RE: Voluntarism, Minarchism & What if True Utilitarianism Requires Libertarian Non Aggression Self Ownership?
Excellent post! And thanks for giving me two more books for my reading list.
I am gravitating towards voluntaryism, but also with some reservations similar to yours. I do think there are some things that the State has improved (although maybe a good argument could convince me otherwise - I'm still finding my way in this).
I'm from the UK, and many people here are still haunted by memories of life before the NHS. For many of us, the urban poverty that Dickens wrote about is etched in our DNA. If we didn't have child labour laws for example, would that nightmare return?
Having said that, going into the city centre yesterday in freezing cold weather and seeing homeless people everywhere, still in their sleeping bags, makes me wonder what our "civilisation" has really achieved.
Yea i think it is despicable poverty still exists in the age of technological abundance. Not saying government coercive intervention is the solution, but it can overcome free rider problems.