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Old August 3rd, 2013 #1
Alex Linder
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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Default Decentralization: The White Man's Way

Hoppe on the state as scam/gang/monopoly...

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/08/n...led-the-state/
 
Old August 3rd, 2013 #2
Alex Linder
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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HOPPE: The first thing in order to oppose it has to be, of course, the insight into the nature of the state. It is curious that economists in all other areas are against monopoly and in favor of competition. They are against monopoly because, from the point of view of consumers, monopolists will be institutions that produce at higher-than-minimum costs and the quality of the product will be lower than it otherwise would be. And competition we regard as good from the point of view of consumers, because competing firms are continuously striving to lower their productions costs, pass on the lower production costs in the form of lower prices to consumers in order to out-compete their competitors and, of course, produce the most highly (sic) quality products possible under given circumstances.

The curious thing is that when it comes to the most important matter in human life, namely the protection of life and property, there, curiously enough, almost all economists are in favor of having a monopoly providing this particular service, and seem to think this argument — the argument no longer applies that a monopoly will require far higher expenses in order to produce whatever they produce, and the quality of the product, in this case law and order or justice, will be lower. So at the beginning of any type of roll back of the state, has to stand an insight into the nature of the state as a monopolist and an insight into the negative effects that monopolies have in all walks in life, and in particular in the area of law and order.

What we can hope for at the best is that the number of competing states should be as large as possible if we don’t succeed to abolish the state at all. The larger number of states does not allow states as easily as they would like to to increase taxes, to increase regulations because people will then vote with their feet.

The most dangerous situation that one can imagine would be a world government that imposes the same tax-and-regulation structure on a world-wide scale, taking away any incentive for people to move from one place to another because the tax-and-regulation structure is the same everywhere. On the other hand, if we would have a situation where we have tens of thousands of Lichtensteins and Switzerlands and Monacos and Hong Kongs and Singapores, then even though each individual state might want to increase taxes and regulations, they simply cannot get away with it without immediate repercussions, namely people moving from less favorable locations to more favorable locations.
 
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