[ExI] Call To Libertarians

[spike]

... On Behalf Of Richard Loosemore
...
>But, do please continue your dispute with spike:  it is instructive to see
libertarians disputing what the L word is actually >about.  Glad I could
help by framing the debate...  Richard Loosemore


Do trim responses please.

There are many different kinds of libertarians, which explains why we seldom
or never win elections.  A lot of times, we don't even vote for our own
candidates.

I am a libertarian who would argue that you can do a whole bunch of things
in a publicly funded way, but do it in such a way that private entities can
compete, and usually win against it.

Lets take a particularly difficult one that the US is tripping over right
now: health care.  We can set up a public health system perfectly in
parallel with the private one, in such a way that both can compete and the
cost is not ruinous.  We set up a publicly funded emergency care system,
which will try to patch you back up if you take a bad fall in your home, or
you are shot and stabbed by the local youth organizations.  No legal
authorities are involved in any way, no courts, no malpractice anything, you
just go there and they do what they do.  If you aren't injured but just not
feeling well, you have the option to go there as well, no appointment
necessary, and if the youth organizations aren't too busy right then sending
rival organizations' members to the hospital, they may be able to help you.
But if you go that route, you take what you get, and you do not enter the
lawsuit lottery.

In parallel, the private system would still exist, with all its high-capital
high skillset doctors.  If you have money, to them you go.  They are not
involved in the legal system either.  If the patient wants to buy insurance
against the medics' slaying her, then that is between her and the insurance
company, with private arbitration being the decider.

Similarly, public roads and private for-profit roads can go side-by-side, as
they in fact are doing within 200 meters of where I sit typing this message.
A "Lexus lane" was added on the far left of the freeway.  If you are in a
hurry and have money, you can pay to drive in that.  Otherwise get over to
the right and slow down with the rest of the proles.

I am in the process of choosing a kindergarten for my son.  There is a
perfect example of where public and private institutions operate in
parallel, and effectively compete with each other.

spike